Kitsune no Soen
by MischaA
Summary: Ch 8: Creatures From A Lower World. PostManga. Conclusion to the case of the missing girls. I didn't give you a cliff hanger :P. LokiMayu hints.
1. Arise Enjaku Detective Agency

_This story is going to take place post manga, so if you're not one to read fics on that subject because you haven't read it, read no more. If you haven't read the manga, and are unsure of how it ended, well… the basic rundown is Ragnarok sort of took place. Loki confronted Odin, who turned out to be Balder in control of Odin somehow. Freyr attacked Fenrir and Yamino while Loki was away, completely destroying the mansion. And then Loki… sort of won thanks to the Norns taking stuff into their own hands with Odin still not quite sure what happened with them, but they fixed the situation apparently, and then Loki is sent back to Midgard/Earth, no longer a god, where he finds Mayura no longer has any memories of him. So from that brief WTF description of the manga, we continue on from where the manga left off. If someone wants more info on the manga, do a search on the group Hemuloki, and it'll pop up with tons of info on the manga._

_This also means I'm basing the characters more on the manga than the anime. Mayura in the anime is annoying as hell, where as in the manga she could be considered somewhat intelligent, and not a complete ditz, mystery obsession or not. Warning though, I think they all might be a bit OOC at first cause… well, I'm not used to writing these characters. I'm trying though, and any tips you guys can give me will be appreciated!_

_I still say Kinoshita-sama rushed the manga ending. Damn her. But I still love her._

Disclaimer: I do not own Matantei Loki, or any of the characters of said manga/anime. They all belong to Kinoshita Sakura, except for the ones I make up.

Please enjoy!

Mischa Anniba

**Kitsune no Soen****  
****By Mischa Anniba**

* * *

Prologue

A House in Ruins

Mayura wandered through the ruins of what seemed to be a huge house, tears spilling from her eyes she couldn't control, nor understood why they came. She was so depressed and saddened by this place, but why, she didn't know.

As she found herself over the remains of what she assumes was the hallway, she broke down and collapsed upon the door, shocked with herself and her inability to control her actions.

Why was she so sad? What was this place to cause such a reaction from her? Why did it all seem so familar?

Suddenly, near her foot she heard a slithering, and noticed a snake disappear into the rubble.

She shot up, thinking "Snake!" before hearing a bark from somewhere behind. When she turned to look, a tall blonde foreigner was smiling down at her.

"Welcome to my detective agency."

* * *

**Chapter 1****  
****First Night – Arise Enjaku Detective Agency!**

"Papa, where is it?!" Mayura yelled. It was already 4:20, if she didn't hurry, she'd be late. "Mayura ran from closet to closet, scanning over each and every shelf.

"I told you, it's in the cabinet in the sitting room!" He yelled from somewhere in the house.

Cabinet. Sitting room. Riiiight. "I ALREADY CHECKED THE CABNET, PAPA!! IT'S NOT THERE!" Mayura tore at a laundry hamper, willing her stress to cause the camera to magically appear in the clothing. She hadn't been late yet to her job, and she was determined not to let today be the first, especially since they were on a case.

"PAPAAAAAA-" She was cut off as she ran right into her father, holding the SLR camera. Her eyes grew big. "The camera! Where'd you find it Papa?" She smiled. She was saved!

"In the cabinet, in the sitting room. Where I said it was." His expression showed of some annoyance.

"But I-"

"You're going to be late, aren't you?" Her father asked, shoving the camera at her. It was bad enough he was letting her work with a foreigner who gave him the creeps, so he wasn't too happy with giving up some of his belongings to help with what he sees as "helping" the two continue with their "business".

Mayura was about to argue she had checked the cabinet when the reality of what time it was hit her. She was going to be late. "You're right Papa! I have to go!" She gave him a peck the cheek, checked to see she had the film she just bought, and then with camera in hand, ran out the door.

Misao Daidouji "humphed", watching her leave, and headed back to sweeping the stone pathway to the shrine. He really didn't like that Loki or whatever he called himself.

* * *

Mayura ran through the streets as fast as she could, determined to make her lateness as minimal as possible. 

It had been about two weeks since she met the detective at the ruined lot, and already they had solved two cases, and what more she actually got paid. Sure it wasn't much, but it had stopped some of her father's objections of her working for Loki. Those cases where small however, liking finding a missing cat, but today was something slightly bigger. Today Loki said he expected them to be able to end their latest case, a case Mayura happily dubbed "The Case of the Mysterious No Good Cheating Husband!" Of course the more Mayura thought about it, the less it seemed mysterious.

The guy was a jerk, cheating on his wife with the secretary, something the wife suspected all along and wanted Loki to get solid evidence on. Loki hadn't wanted to take it originally, but Mayura insisted since she thought they would need to solve something more than a missing pet and middle school pranksters. Enjaku Detetective Agency needed a name to be reckoned with, and that ment getting more cases and clients, no matter what the case. So what if this one just entailed following a guy and taking pictures? She was now a private eye! And cheating husbands beware!

Loki had given in on the basis that she would be the one to take the pictures. Then Loki and Mayura had followed the man, Mr. Hanzo, the last couple of days and found out his daily schedule with the mysterious mystery woman, the secretary. So today she would bring the camera since Loki owned no camera, and they were to meet at the fountain outside the park downtown.

Mayura had just turned to a corner and skidded to a halt when she noticed Loki was happily chatting away with a couple of girls near the fountain. Mayura shook her head and corrected herself. What looked like girls were actually _women_. Older than her, gorgeous and leggy, and apparently just off the train from Tokyo if their clothing said anything about them. Loki was dressed not too shabby either, in some nice dark slacks and a dress shirt, and seemingly enjoying his conversation with said leggy women.

Mayrua wasn't quite sure of what to do for a second. Would Loki get angry with her interrupting the conversation? She knew Kotarou was one to get annoyed when she interrupted him in similar situations, but Loki… he seemed different. He was after all a detective, and she was his assistant! Surely he wouldn't get mad at his assistant for interrupting, especially seeing as they were on a case? He WAS waiting for HER after all.

Mayura took a deep breath before taking a step out to cross the street.

And immediately jumped back with a yelp as a truck sped past her, blaring its horn. After the truck had passed, Mayura found herself sprawled on the sidewalk, the camera thankfully safe in her hands, undamaged from her fall. He rear sure hurt though.

She gave the camera a good looking over, and was happy to see it was ok. _Papa would be so mad if I broke it…_ As she finished her thoughts, a shadow fell over her.

"Are you ok, Mayura?" Her head shot up to find her "boss" (as she did so love to call him to others) looking down at her with concern in his foreign, blue eyes.

Mayura swallowed before giving a nod and replying. "I guess I sort of… tripped."

He gave her a soft smile before offering his hand to help her up. She hesitated taking it for a second, making sure her face was hidden from him as she got up so that he couldn't see the flush attacking her face.

No matter how hard she tried, and how many times she told herself he was just her boss, she couldn't control herself. It never failed that when he made the least bit of physical contact, like a pat on the shoulder, or a brush of the hands, she would redden like a tomato. The problem was he wasn't the usual scruffy looking detective type she was used to seeing on TV shows and movies. He was, well, simply gorgeous. With his height, blonde hair, blue eyes, and pretty face, he was easily model material, a career she was sure he would have success in if he ever pursued.

So Mayura wasn't about to deny she was attracted to him (because what woman wouldn't be?), but he _was_ her boss, and she _was_ his assistant. Better yet, she was a _detective's_ assistant. They had to retain a professional relationship, as he father called it, and besides, why would he be interested in a skinny little high school girl when he had gorgeous women around him. Thinking of which, she wondered what happened to the leggy women. She looked around her, but saw no sign of where they went, and it was better off that way. She didn't like the glares she received from women who saw her with Loki-san.

"I was a bit worried about you there for a while. You're late."

He face lost all color at that as she looked back at him. "I'm so sorry!" She bowed quickly. "I didn't mean too! Papa told me where his camera was, and … well it wasn't there! I had to look all over the house for it!" Mayura took another deep bow. "I'm SORRY!"

"Heh. " She heard and slowly began to stand back up straight. "It is perfectly fine Mayura. You are only a couple minutes late, and I'm sure our two… suspects haven't even started off for their usual walk in the park yet."

"Really?!" He face brightened at the news. "So I didn't miss the mystery?!"

A sheepish smile touched his features as he began leading her towards the park. "Again Mayura, it's not much of a mystery from the start. We already know who the woman is. Now it's just the matter of collecting the evidence our client wants, which you'll be able to get with a couple of photographs."

* * *

Loki let out a small sigh as he sat down behind a bush between two trees with a good view of the park bench their 'prey' was currently sitting at, doing the usual cuddling couples do in a park. Mayura had already begun snapping away with the pictures. 

It just seemed so degrading for him to be hiding behind a bush in a park for a case of adultery, a subject he didn't really personally find many problems with. Again he wished he could have avoided such a case, but Mayura was right. They did need more cases under their belt if they wanted the detective agency to thrive. Not that he really cared.

"If I didn't know about Mrs. Hanzo-san, I would never think that man capable of being so cruel." Mayura whispered next to him.

"Cruel?" Loki took another glance at the spring jolly couple on the bench under the cherry teas. It was spring, so they were all blooming, dropping the pinkish-white petals to the grown. It was almost the exact same spot he remembered meeting Mayura in his current form over a year ago, before almost making it back to Asgard, which Urd stopped. Mayura was rather happy when she learned he wasn't going anywhere, not that she could remember it now. The mind wipe that followed the Odin/Balder issue took care of anything a mortal would recall of him.

"Yes! " She replied. "He's cruel. Here he is, a married man, while his wife is at home, wondering and worried about where he is, and here he is, cheating on her!"

Loki thought on that for a bit. He COULD go into trying to explain to Mayura how flippant love can be, and how two people rarely are right for each other to begin with, but something told him not to. That and how he highly doubted his wife was worried about him, seeing as she seemed to know about the 'other woman'.

"I wonder if this is what it's like to be papzipapzi…" The girl mused at his side.

"Papzipapzi?"

"Yes! Those people who do nothing but sneak up on famous people and take pictures of them doing stuff."

"You mean papparazi."

A pause from her before she muttered "oh." And then soon after was followed with an "uh oh…"

Loki turned back to look at the couple she was watching to notice Hanzo-san looking towards their bush with interest. Mayrua, pulling away, brushed against a couple of branches alerting the man something was in the bushes if he didn't know already. He said something to the young secretary on the bench before getting up and making his way in their direction.

"What do we do Loki-san?!"

What to do? There were several things they could do. They could run, or they could try playing it off. Either way he didn't care much, as worried as Mayura was. What could Hanzo-san do to someone seemingly taking pictures of him? The question Loki was more concerned with was what would be more amusing?

Mayura was looking at him with wide, scared eyes, leaves strewn in various places in her hair, and the camera that the man was sure not to like. A smirk played at his lips as he ran through all the situations in his head. Sadly some of them wouldn't be too appropriate for his "assistant". He did promise her father after all.

Loki grabbed the camera in Mayura's hands and quickly set it on the other side of the tree near her so it would be out of site. Loki then grabbed Mayura and pulled her to him, making them look rather intimately embraced. As she started to redden, he gave her a wink with their faces just millimeters apart, causing her blush to increase.

He was just trying not to think about how long it had been since he was last in a situation anything similar to that with a girl when Mr. Hanzo shoved away some of the branches. From Hanzo's angle all he could see was the back of Loki's head until Loki turned around and pulled away from Mayura, attempting to give Hanzo-san the best shocked expression he could, which turned out to be pretty good with his experience.

"Wha-" Began Hanzo-san as he looked down on the two.

"Can I help you?" Loki asked with an icy tone as Hanzo continued to stare down at the two of them. Finally he finally turned around with a "humph" and headed back to the secretary, all the while muttering something about foreigners and school girls.

The so called threat now gone, Loki looked back at Mayura who continued to sit there a very deep shade of red.

"Mayura?"

She slowly came out of the daze and looked up at him, then at Hanzo's retreating form. "Do... do you think we have enough pictures to be finished, Loki-san?"

"I suspect we may of ruined Hanzo-san's mood too much for him to continue on. " Loki smiled as he watched the man and woman rise up from the park bench. "Apparently for him it doesn't take much. And yes, I do think we have all the pictures we need."

* * *

Mayura hummed happily as they headed back to the shack. It was a good day. A very good day indeed. 

The client had received the photos and paid them well, wrapping up another case in her new career as a detective, and so another case was solved!

However her mind couldn't help but be drawn back to the bushes every now and then. She knows it was just a ruse to keep from being caught, but he was oh so close to her, close enough to kiss. She had to shake her head every time thoughts like these came to her head and remind herself that there was really nothing between the two of them. They were supposed to have a "professional" relationship, something her father imprinted in her head many times over, and embarrassingly enough, added the birds and the bees to it as well after she announced and introduced Loki to her father as her "boss." He was against the idea, but after seeing she wouldn't change her mind, he resorted to the lectures. She was 17 now, about to finish high school, and her father felt the need to tell her what the birds and the bees were when she got her first, real job.

She sighed to herself. Well at least he cared enough to worry about her.

"What kind of tea should we have?" Loki asked as they turned around the corner. Loki kept well stocked of tea in his shack, and it was the one thing Mayura liked doing most every day she visited him. Drinking tea. For some reason it just seemed so right with him, and he did have a lovely tea set. She liked drinking tea around him so much that the presence of his pet snake never even really bothered her. They would sit there, sipping away at tea while they talked about everything from their current case to how the other's day had been. And she couldn't forget about his adorable puppy, Fenrir. Shack or not, it was a great place to hang out to her.

They were just beginning to get in viewing range of Loki's home . "Earl Grey?" She asked, getting a nod from him. "I wonder if Fenrir's been alright all cooped up in the house all day. We probably could of brought him after all."

Loki was just starting to respond she noticed him suddenly stop in his tracks. Mayura looked to where he was staring, and noticed a person waiting outside his shack, too far for her to get a good look.

"You'll have to forgive me again Mayura," Loki said "because it looks like I have a visitor, and we won't be able to have our usual pot of tea." She couldn't read anything out of Loki's expression, but nodded slowly.

The figure waited outside the house, apparently aware of Loki now, waiting. All Mayura could see of him was he was dressed in black, and too far for details.

"Ok, that's fine. Should I be here the usual time tomorrow, Loki-san?" She asked, somehow getting a familiar feeling from the figure.

"That's fine. " They said their goodbyes, and with one final look back at the shadowy figure, Mayura ran off.

* * *

Loki slowly approached the figure. "I really didn't expect to hear from any of you so soon, if at all." 

"Why's that? " The man stepped out wearing a black cape, and old-Nordic style tunic, also black. Apparently he was still in mourning. A large, delicately engraved war hammer was strapped to his belt. "There's nothing stopping me from seeing you."

Loki smirked. "Of course, what's to stop the new Allfather?"

"Feh. I don't like that title." Thor replied, studying Loki. "How's Daidouji-san?"

"She's doing fine. She's eager for mysteries to solve, as always." He replied, looking down the block at where she disappeared.

Thor gave a small chuckle. "That's good to hear."

"Shall we take this inside and get to what you really want to talk about?"

Thor paused for a second, a sad look in his eyes, and then looked among the ruins of Loki's mansion to the shack. "Of course."

* * *

_Well, there's the first chapter. I plan on this being a big multi-chapter fic. I suppose we'll see if I'm up to the challenge. Any comments would be really appreciated. Was it too OOC?_

_And I need to find a better way to format these documents because I don't like how it looks on fanfiction dot net. What's the best format for an uploaded chapter?_


	2. The Old Man Who Lived in a Shack

_Thank you everyone who read my last chapter, especially those who reviewed. Here's the next chapter. Please let me know what you think!_

* * *

Chapter 2  
Second Night – The Old Man Who Lived in a Shack.

* * *

"Daddy!" Fenrir shouted as they walked into the two room shack Loki had set up. Fenrir came up to greet Loki, tail wagging.

"Hello Fenrir" Loki picked up the greeting pup and plopped down on the bed, leaving the only chair in the house, usually reserved for Mayura, to Thor.

"Thor?!" Fenrir finally got a look at who was behind his and gave him a suspicious glare. In the corner of Loki's eye he noticed Midgarstorm slither past his foot, under the bed. Apparently he was still frightened of Thor, but then again who could blame him. Norn predictions weren't something to take lightly, he should know.

"Hey Fenrir." Thor answered. "Where's Glasses?"

"He's around. " Loki smiled as he focused on rubbing Fenrir behind the ears.

Thor continued to look around the small shack made of scrap wood and various parts of his old house, which didn't take long seeing as the shack wasn't more than 20 feet wide. It mainly just consisted of a bathroom, and a bedroom with a sink, a bed, a bookshelf, and Loki's old desk. Once Thor was done, he stood at the window inspecting the lot that was left of Loki's house.

"Dammmmn, I didn't realize how much damage Freyr did to you house!" He gave Loki a lopsided smile. "I heard he wrecked it, but with Freyr… Freyr wrecks a lot of things. I didn't know he flattened it like a pancake. It almost looks like I took Mjollnor to the place."

The idea brought a sad expression to Loki as he kept he stared at his. "I'm just happy he didn't succeed in his original goal of hurting my children."

Thor was silent, unsure of how to react to the comment so he waited a minute before changing the subject, and sitting down in the wooden chair behind the battered remains of Loki's desk. He set his hammer down next to him on the dirt floor.

He asked, glancing down at all the paperwork strewn about. "Still doing detective work?"

"Yes. Harmless little cases here and there. There aren't that many evil forces about now, now that Balder is no longer after me." Loki still had problems accepting that Balder had them all fooled and thinking Odin was behind it all. The pain of losing a friend, no, a brother like Odin still hurt. He had half the mind to take after Thor and dress in the traditional black of mourning. "How is everyone else doing?"

Thor let out a sigh as he leaned back in the chair, apparently fully comfortable now. "Heimdall has gone back to watching the bridge, and Feryr… well aside from him being a bit put out of not being King, he's doing fine. He's sometimes gone chasing some other mortal girl here on Midgard, some girl in Europe he ran into, so Daidouji would probably be relieved if she could remember. Freya is fine, but really concerned about how you're doing."

"I'm doing fine."

"You don't say." Thor studied Loki. "You know Loki… What happened… it can be undone. I can-"

Loki held up a hand to stop Thor. "No. … You're a good friend Thor, but… I've come to accept being mortal now. Being stripped of immortality and the powers that go with that privilege… it's interesting. Like, a new experience, and I've already accepted it anyway. I look forward to growing old now I suppose, even though my lifespan as a Jouten will be much longer than any of the humans here."

Thor sighed, but knew how stubborn Loki could be. "Well, the offer will always stand if you change your mind… Idun has plenty of apples to share, and we'd always love to have you back in the hall."

Loki still focused on Fenrir, but smiled. "Thank you."

"And… well… will you refuse my at least helping you rebuild your house? I think it's the least I can do, seeing as now… well, I'm not exactly hard for money now, and you… well, I think I owe you for all those meals Glasses fed me under your roof!" He got up and took a pose with Mjillnor over his shoulder and grinned at Loki. "Heck, Mjillnor and I could rebuild the whole place by ourselves."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?"

Thor's grin widened. "Heck yeah! What good is being king of the Nordic Pantheon if I can't build a simple little house on Midgard?!"

* * *

Mayura sat up straight with surprise. "You mean construction will begin next week?!"

"Yes, the plans have already been made out, and the construction company will start on Monday." Loki responded as he gave the snake around his neck a loving rub on the head.

"Where'd you get the money?"

"I had some saved up for it. Just because I choose to live in a shack doesn't mean I have no money."

Mayura gave him a scrutinizing look. She couldn't help but feel he wasn't telling her the whole story, and why suddenly begin construction now, when he could have started it earlier? Either way, she supposed she should be happy he wouldn't' be forced to live in a shack anymore. A shack was no place for a great detective to live.

She was just beginning to imagine his house looking something like Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street when Fenrir gave a sudden bark on her lap, demanding more attention and almost causing her to spill her tea. She responded with a good belly scratch. "Where will you be staying while they work on it?"

"A hotel somewhere more than likely. I'm sure I can find suitable accommodations nearby while they work on the house."

"You don't need to do that!" She set the teacup back down on the saucer and looked back to the Loki who was sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall with his snake. "We have a guest room at my house! Papa wouldn't mind, and Fenrir, and.. and Midgardstrom would be fine there too!" She didn't really want to think about the snake being in her house, but she had to admit Loki's Midgardstrom was slowly making her not mind them so much. SLOWLY. "I doubt a lot of places in town would allow a dog _and _a snake!"

Loki gave her a smirk. "Are you sure May- … your father wouldn't mind it?"

Mayura took only a second to respond. "I see no reason why not. It's only the right thing to do, and the room is never used anyway."

"Well, if it'll be alright with your father, it would be most appreciated, Mayura." He gave her a genuine smile. "You truly are all someone could ask for in an assistant."

Mayura could feel her cheeks start to burn at the compliment, and while turning her head away asked "Would you like me to make another pot of tea?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

She walked over to the tea maker on the small counter next to the sink to start boiling water.

"You're school trip to Izumo is tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yep! We get to check out all the old temples and parks!" The tea maker was just starting to let out the boiled water, so she got the tea pot ready. "There are so many kami shrines all over the place, so if I'm lucky I just might see a ghost or spirit! Or maybe even Kitsukoko!"

"Kitsukoko?"

"Um!" Mayura nodded as she turned around to set the tea pot on the desk. "When I was little Papa took me there to visit a great aunt who is in charge of a temple there. His aunt or something, I don't remember." She picked up his cup and began pouring him another. "But while there I started to see this cute little brown fox every day. I named him Kitsukoko!"

Loki took the cup of tea and gave her a teasing smile. "Kitsukoko?"

"Hmph" Mayura stuck out her tongue at him was she sat back down. "I was only six." She paused for a second, thinking way back about it. "My great Aunt was really superstitious and didn't think it proper for a girl to be pursuing and naming a fox. Of course all she wanted to do was teach me more Shinto ceremonies and what not. She wasn't much fun." Mayura couldn't help but frown at what the woman made her nine year old self do. Making a little girl go through a purification ceremony in freezing cold water was NOT fun.

Loki was studying her with a smile. "Aren't foxes supposed to steal your soul or something along those lines?"

Mayura tilted her head as she stirred her cup of tea, thinking about the question. "Not really… I guess it depends on the fox. Some are good, some are bad, some are normal foxes, and some are kami." She knew so much about them, she really didn't know where to start.

"If you make a deal with a fox they have such a strong sense of honor that they'll stick by their promise, no matter what! And they can help out a household by doing various favors for them, and even take human form! The older and wiser the fox, the more tails it has, and they can have up to nine tails!" She paused for a second, thinking where to go next. "But some foxes like to cause severe mischief, especially on priests and people of religious station. They can take possession of unsuspecting maidens, seduce men in the forest and make them forget about their family, even lead the man to his death!" Mayura took a pause, thinking with a finger to her chin. "But really they're just tricksters in the end, good and bad I suppose."

"You seem to know a lot about them." Loki smirked.

"Of course! They're fushigi mysteries!" Mayura was grinning now, and searching for her cork bottle glasses to emphasize their mysteriousness, but they weren't in her pocket like they usually were.

"Did you know foxes outside of Japan hold a lot of similarities with the foxes of Japan when it comes to myths?" Loki was gazing outside the window now. "They're tricksters all over the world, and known for their intelligence. They're a creature that demands respect, but has fun doing it."

"You seem to know a lot about foxes, Loki-san. Do you like them?"

"In a way I suppose." He returned his attention back to her, and gave her a funny expression she couldn't read. "You could say I feel a deep connection to them."

Mayura for some reason couldn't break away from his gaze. He somehow held her there with her eyes and she began to feel like she was sinking into the blueness of them. Finally he looked away, back out the window.

"So you'll be gone for how many days?"

"Three. " Mayura had to blink several times to get out of the daze she was in. "It'll be from tomorrow till Saturday. We'll get back late Saturday night."

"I'll make sure to hold off on any mysteries that may pop up while you are gone then."

Mayura's face lit up. "Really!? Thank you Loki-san! I… I would be disappointed if I missed out on any… but if there are any big ones that can't wait for me, make sure you get started on them! We need cases!" Mayura's face suddenly took on a serious look. "Speaking of which, I was planning on maybe making some fliers to put up around town for advertising…"

"Go ahead and do whatever you think will help out the agency Mayura. I… trust your judgment."

Fenrir gave a little bark in her lap which apparently caused Loki to laugh. Mayura couldn't help but feel she was missing something here. As cute as her boss was, he was a very odd man, with even odder pets. Then again he trusted her judgment, so he couldn't be too weird of a man. Sure he was an odd man with odd pets, living in a shack, but he had very good taste in clothes, not to mention assistants.

Mayura got a look at what time it was on her cell phone, and stood up grabbing her school bag. "I have to head back home to make sure I have everything packed, Loki-san. You take care!"

"I will Mayura, be careful on your trip!"

"I will! Bye Fen-chan, bye Midgardstrom!" She thought it only polite to treat the pets the same. The snake hadn't done anything to cause her _not_ to give it that civility.

She was just heading out the door when Loki went "Try not follow anything like willow-whisp or kappa, or even your Kitsukoko while you're there. I don't want to hear that my 'lovely assistant' drowned in the pond because she was chasing something mysterious!"

Mayura was already out the door after hearing that, and was unsure how to react to such a comment. Was it a joke, or did he really believe in them? Was he seriously concerned about her?

The door was already closed, but she gave him a "I won't!" before heading off.

* * *

The sun was just starting to disappear over the horizon as the girl was walking down a back alley street on her way home. She was happily humming to herself and swinging a school bag with the melody.

Suddenly somewhere from behind there was a loud crash, and the girl spun around, eyes wide, only to see no one but the empty street full of trashcans and bags for trash collecting. In the distance she could see people slowly begin every now and then, to turn on their porch lights.

"Must have been a cat…" the girl told herself before turning around. She set off again down the street trying to ignore what the long cast shadows were doing to her mind. She was just speeding up her pace when she rounded a corner and gasped when she ended up bumping into someone.

Quickly she bowed. "I'm so sorr-"

"So pretty…" the person replied with a shaky voice.

The girl slowly looked up and was about to scream when the figure cut her off.

* * *

_Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn! Creepy foreboding drum stuff And that was chapter two, and that was the introduction of a little bit of trouble. Anyway, looks like a problem as arisen in town. What will happen next? Who knows but me? But then again I'm not quite sure exactly what will happen next. I have to think about how I'm going to write out the next chain of events._

_It's not too boring at the moment, is it? I'm thinking I'm not too good at dialogue, or maybe I go on and on about stuff too much._

_Anyway, reviews would be most appreciated!_

_Mischa Anniba_


	3. Girl Talk

_Thank you for everyone who reviewed! Here's chapter three._

* * *

Chapter 3  
Third Night – Girl Talk

* * *

"Ah! It's so big!" Kaho exclaimed as she stood next to Mayura, staring straight up at the gable-style roof of Izumo Taisha. "Hard to believe this is just the outer shrine."

"It used to be twice as high bigger before it was burnt down way back in the Kamakura Period. " Mayura announced, not quite as impressed as her friend.

Kaho lifted an eyebrow to Mayura and began looking around. "Really? Where'd you read that off of, I don't see a sign of anything around here." Which was pretty true seeing as the grounds were pretty sparse looking for a historic Shinto shrine. Nothing but gravel and concrete outside of the buildings.

Mayura held back puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. "I AM a miko." She stated. "Papa's been drilling Shinto facts into my head since I can remember."

"With the way you go on about mysteries, one forgets you're a Shinto priestess sometimes." Kaho grinned teasingly.

Mayura went back to quietly staring at the building for some time before she replied. "Mysteries are more fun than praying to gods that aren't there."

The expression Kaho saw on Mayura's face took the smile right off her face. She had NEVER seen Mayura look so depressed and serious before.

Mayura noticed in the corner of her eye her friend's concern and quickly gave her a reassuring smile. "Besides, you can only be a miko for so long, while I am well on my way to being a great detective!" Mayura gave her a little victory pose one would typically see in manga. Kaho smiled with relief.

"That's right, you started working at some detective agency, didn't you?"

"Um!" Mayura happily nodded as the approached the part of the shrine grounds where most of the class had wandered to.

"So you actually solve mysteries there?"

"Yep!" Mayura paused to stare at the familiar sight of the shrine entrance, and pushed back distasteful memories of Oba-Chi-sama and her priestess training. "We've had three cases so far, and have solved them all! Loki-san is a great detective, so word should spread soon about Enjaku Detective Agency's Loki-san and his beautiful, talented assistant!"

"I guess the beautiful assistant evens out the unattractive detective for the clients, eh?"

"Huh?"

"Well, if he's anything like Niyama-san he probably stinks of cigarettes, wears wrinkly clothes, and doesn't shave."

Mayura's eyes widened. "I didn't know you knew Niyama-san, Kaho-chan!"

"Of course I…" Kaho's brow scrunched up with a funny expression on her face. She to Mayura. "I… I really don't know how I know him, Mayura-chan." She giggled.

"Something must be screwy with my memory, but I do know I've met him, and he wasn't the sort of guy I'd want to spend my days around."

"Loki-san isn't like that." She smiled thinking about him. Loki-san…" Mayura thought about it as they stepped into the shrine and were enclosed by old dark wood that had shadows playing across it set off by the candles. "Loki-san…" What was nice about Loki? The scent of incense reached Mayura's nose. "…ooo, it smells nice!" Mayura concluded.

"Smells nice?" Kaho repeated in disbelief. "The guy's best feature is he smells nice? Well I guess that's one thing up on ole Ni-"

"Eh?! I didn't say…" Oh wait, maybe she did. "Ohhhh. No no no! Loki-san, doesn't… well I guess he does smell nice." Mayura knew Kaho was studying her, and really hoped the candle light was hiding the flush now appearing on her face. "I… I don't know! I never bothered trying to SMELL him!"

"SHHHHHH!" The teacher chaperon up ahead glared at Mayura and gave her a look that suggested they would be seeing her later.

Mayura instantly lowered her head some to show to the teacher she was reprimanded, and whispered to Kaho "Loki-san is way better than Niyama-san."

"And why is that, Mayura-chan?"

"Because…." They were nearing their turn on the altar. "Loki-san is a great detective!" She finished with a final tone, as if that was all the explanation Kaho needed. They now were up at the altar which was a table full of incense and candles, and in the center on display was a long sword in its sheath, detailed with a many-headed dragon. "Ooooooo, is this the sword that came out of the legendary, eight headed dragon Orochi?!" Mayura squealed what had to be the loudest whisper possible. "Mysteeeriii!"

* * *

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away elsewhere in Japan:

"Aaaaaaaaachooooooooo!"

"Loki-sama! That's the third sneeze in a row!" The snake exclaimed from his tank. "You're not getting sick, are you!"

Loki rubbed his nose with his sleeve in a rather child-like manner. "I highly doubt it, Midgardstrom. I think it's just allergies."

"Still Loki-sama, you should prepare some hot tea!" The snake looked out at its father with the most concerned expression anyone would ever see on a snake.

"Maybe in a bit." Loki replied as he set aside the book he was reading and started to get out of the bed.

"baaaaDDYYY!" Came a cry from outside the open door. A few seconds later the black dog appeared and ran in with a newspaper that almost looked a bit too large for him. Fenrir bumped into a few things with the ends of the paper, but after a few attempts managed to jump onto his father's lap who had sat himself at his desk.

Fenrir spat the paper out.

"I got the paper for you, Daddy!" His tail was wagging so hard it was nothing but a black blur.

"Why thank you Fenrir, how very thoughtful of you!" Loki cooed as he picked up the paper and gave his son a good scratch. Fenrir made himself comfy as his father began scanning through the paper.

"Don't forget your tea, Loki-sama!" The snake reminded as he began to slither out of the tank.

* * *

"Here Mayura, why don't you buy one of these charms for love?"

Mayura made a face. "That's not something I think Loki-san would like as a souvenir." The two girls had made their way to the suvonir stand, along with a number of other students, and now were looking through the wares.

"I didn't mean for Loki-san, I meant for you." Kaho shoved it towards Mayura with a gleam in her eye.

"But I don't need it."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No…"

"Then you need it." Kaho noticed her friend still wasn't bought. "Come on Mayura, I would think a super mysterious charm from one of the super mysterious shrines in all of Japan, a place rumored to help out with young lovers, would get you all over it!"

"But, I don't really ne-"

"Mayura-chan. You're 17, almost 18. Have you had a boyfriend yet?"

"… no."

"Then you need all the help you can get to not end up an old maid." Kaho went back to searching through the other various charms displayed against the wall.

Mayura puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. She didn't think her situation was THAT bad. The wooden figures for sale on the top shelf caught Mayura's attention. In several rows sat very detailed carved eight headed dragons, all with what Mayura would call an air of mystery. "Sugoi…" Mayura murmured. "They're super cool mysterious looking!" Mayura pointed to the dragons, but Kaho just glanced and went back to looking at the charms.

Hmph, well they weren't for Kaho-chan anyway. But one would make a pretty good souvenir to Loki, she thought. With that Mayura began digging through her wallet to see if she had enough yen.

"Do you ever think about boys, Mayura?"

Mayura was counting out her money.

"Mayura?"

"Hmmm?" She just needed a couple more yen…

"I asked, do you even think about boys?"

"Mou, Kaho-chan! I think about boys sometimes!"

Mayura signaled to the stall owner she wanted one of the wooden dragons. The stall attendant who was dressed in Miko-garb immediately began wrapping her up one.

"But not as much as your mysterious mysteries?"

"Huh?"

Kaho let out a deep sigh as Mayura received the dragon in a bag. "I'm sure Loki-san will like this!" Mayura grinned.

Kaho paused a moment to reassess her friend. She sure did bring Loki-san up a lot. "… Mayura?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you perhaps… like Loki-san?"

"EH?!" Mayura's eyes were bulging out now.

"I was just thinking… maybe a detective is just the right sort of guy for you. You like mysteries, he likes mysteries…"

"Loki-san and I have a "professional" relationship Kaho-…" A movement way off behind Kaho caught her eye. Mayura stopped, and watched the bushes for the movement again.

"Huh, what is it?" Kaho began to turn around to look at what her friend was staring at.

Suddenly out of the green bushes with glimmering eyes poked the small head of a fox.

"A fox!" Mayura yelled, and pointed.

"Huh, where?!" Kaho turned around to look at where Mayura was pointing, but at that moment it disappeared back into the bushes. Mayura ran after it, bag flapping after her. "Wha! Mayura!"

"I'll be right back! I want to see the fox!"

Mayura dove into the brush bordering the shrine, and was immeadiantly noticed she suddenly seemed to be in a forest with some very large, old looking trees. She looked around for any signs of the fox and was rewarded with shaking of the bush ahead of her.

"Ah.. Fox-san! Please wait a second!" She called after it as she began chasing it. She could feel some branches from a nearby bush cut into her skin as she ran by, but up ahead she focused the lightly tipped tail of a fox disappearing behind a big tree.

"Fox-san!" Mayura called, when suddenly her foot caught on to something, and she fell forward into the ground.

Mayura groggily sat up, and carefully dislodged her foot from the root that had tripped her. Then she examined her now brusied and bloody knee. "Itaiiii" she whined. But what about the fox? She looked around for any sign of the fox, but saw no sign of it. Just a bunch of trees with their leaves rustling in the breeze.

"Aw, Fox-san, all I wanted to do was say hi and see if you were Kitsukoko…" Mayura cried as she began to stand up. As soon as she stood up Mayura had to lean against the tree closest to her so she wouldn't fall from the dizziness. Her head suddenly felt so heavy, and her eye sight was blacking out, almost as if she got up too fast.  
Mayura stood there for several minutes as the dizzy spell slowly passed.

"Mayura-chaaaaan!" Kaho called to her from the distance.

Mayura looked for the bag with the dragon, noticed it among the roots, and grabbed it. "Coming!" She called back as she cautiously made her way back to the shrine.

* * *

"Daddy, can we go on a walk?" Fenrir asked.

Loki looked outside the window to notice the sun well on its way to dusk. "I don't see why not Fenrir. Midgardstrom, do you want to come along?" Loki set the paper down and looked over to where the snake rested on the table. He put his hand in to allow the snake to crawl up his arm.

"Come on, Daddy!" Fenrir cried by the door.

Loki followed his son, leaving the newspaper behind on the table. Unread by him because it held little interest to him was an article on page three; An Apparent increase of young teenage girls running away from home.

* * *

_Sorry there's nothing really going yet. I'm told by my friends it takes me a while to get going. But I promise, there will be lots of action coming up eventually. I just… needed Mayura to go on this trip. You'll find out why eventually, so please bear with me. bows  
And oh! For all you Loki fans, the Hemuloki community seems to be getting back together to release scanlations of the manga again. I can't wait. If you're not aware of the Hemuloki community, look up Hemuloki in a search engine. I love their doujinshi scans. o.o_

_ Mischa_


	4. Soba, Melons, and Onigiri

_Thank you everyone for the great reviews, they were really encouraging, and I hope I don't let you guys down, and a special thank you to Kanashii.Umi for pointing out the spelling for Yamino's… true form name. I'm going to use the Midgardsorm from here on out, and eventually go back and change it in the previous chapters._

_And yeah, Yamino is speaking in snake form in this fic. I saw no reason why he shouldn't seeing as Fenrir can speak in his puppy form, and whenever Yamino was the giant serpent in the manga/anime, he could speak then too. Plus I don't think the fact that Loki lost his… godliness (that's what I'll call it XD) that anything that happens to Loki should automatically happen to his kids as well, cause that would mean Hel would lose what supernatural goddess ability she has, and then we'd have no more Queen of the Underworld and… well, that gives you an idea on how my thinking works on the subject._

* * *

Chapter 4  
Fourth Night – Soba, Melons, and Onigiri

* * *

"Loki-sama, those melons over there look nice and ripe, and would be a very easy to prepare food."

_Melons. Melons are good. Melons are VERY good._ Fenrir couldn't SEE the melons being referred to since they were high up on the table in front of him, but he could imagine them in their sweet, green, gooey fruity yuminess.

"Just how easy would you say 'easy to prepare is'?"

_Mmm yes, the easier for Daddy, the better. _Daddy couldn't cook. At. All. Fenrir cringed at remembering his father's attempt at pancakes that morning on the small little Bunsen burner type stove they had. Aparently the task was something way beyond the capability of his father and caused a giant mess afterwards in which Loki swore several times while cleaning it up to never ever to attempt cooking again.

"Well, Loki-sama, you just… slice it up and eat it. No cooking would be required at all."

Yes, yes! Daddy can do that! It wasn't hard to slice something up. Not hard at all if you had hands and a knife. Daddy had hands, and they had a knife at home… somewhere.

"Hmmm…" Loki was still studying the honey dew melons when the vendor finally took note of him.

"Can I help you?" The produce vender greeted Loki with a smile which suddenly turned nervous at noticing the big, green snake wrapped around Loki's neck, but if Loki noticed, he paid him no mind. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice the vendor at all. Instead Loki just kept looking at the melons until he turned his head to look down at his older son.

"Would you like melon for tonight Fenrir, and maybe some sushi from the convenience store?" Loki smiled.

Fenrir perked up at his father addressing him. "Oh yes Daddy!" He gave is little tail a wag at the prospect of more food, NOT prepared by his father. After eating ramen noodles constantly for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, non-stop, ANYTHING sounded better. Depending on his father for food had definitely lowered the… fine taste he had acquired with his brother cooking. So sadly nothing at that moment sounded better than convenience store sushi.

"Maybe I could even pick up some coffee Hagen Daz ice cream." His father continued on.

NOTHING was better that ice cream! Nothing! Fenrir's eyes widened at the idea, and it sent a shiver of joy down the pup's spine.

_ICE CREAM_. Not only did his father seem sick of ramen, but he was treating his taste buds tonight. "OH YES DADDY! Ice cream sounds PERFECT!"

One good thing about living in a very poor shack meant they had no freezer. No freezer with a carton of ice cream meant having no choice but to finish all the ice cream off in one sitting, which meant Fenrir usually got at least half of the carton. In other words the idea of ice cream was extremely appealing to the pup.

Loki continued to smile down at his son while the vendor continued to stare at what he saw as a barking dog and a foreign man with a snake. A very odd combination for a small, Japanese town.

"Alright then, it sounds like a plan!" Loki finally seemed to notice the vendor. "Oh, hello." Smile. "Could I get one of those melons over there?"

"Mayura-san is due later today, isn't she Loki-sama?" Hissed Midgardsorm from Loki's neck. "If she'll be showing up tonight around dinner, you might want to make sure you have enough to feed her."

Loki tilted his head thinking about it… "I suppose you're right. Mayura does like to eat." He grinned, and held out two fingers to the stall owner. "Better make it two melons."

The vendor tried to not even to make the slightest bit of eye contact with the supposedly insane man, and got the melons in a bag to him as quickly as possible, and took the money which thankfully was in exact yen. As they left, the vendor sighed in relief to see them gone without incident.

"Ice cream, ice cream" sang Fenrir as they headed for the convenience store closest to their home.

"Coffee ice cream!" Loki began to sing along and with that the women who were earlier flocking to get a good look at the handsome foreigner were instantly driven away, covering their ears. Somewhere in the distance a cat began to yowl.

"Ah… Loki-sama… do you think that's really a good idea…?" Suggested Midgardsorm who unfortunately was the closest to the singing ex-god.

* * *

Mayura hummed some random tune as she approached the shack, bag in hand containing two packages. One package was the souvenir dragon from Izumo shrine, and the other was Warigo Soba; Izumo's own specialty soba dish consisting of extra dark buckwheat noodles and a yummy bonito and onion sauce. Might as well give Loki a taste of other foods he hasn't been able to try.

The sky was just approaching dusk as she came up to the shack, and when she was about to knock she couldn't help but pause and wonder at the excessive barking of Fenrir which came from the other side of the door.

_Heh, if I didn't know better, I'd say that dog likes to sound of his own bark._ She smiled to herself. Finally she knocked and an immediate but muffled response of "Come in" filtered out to her.

"Hiiiii, Loki-sa…." She stopped in mid sentence, taking in the scene in front of her with shock. Loki sat behind his desk as usual, but on Loki's desk spread out in a crazy mess out were jumbo convenience store cartons of sushi and onigiri, along with several bags of potato chips, most of the food already gone. These were all haphazardly strewn about the desk along with a pot of tea, but what REALLY got to the teenage girl was the sight of her boss eating straight out of a Hagen Daz ice cream carton. From what she could see, the flavor was coffee.

Fenrir was making what would be considered cute puppy sounds as he lapped up some of the ice cream out of a dish set down next to the desk.

_So this is the meal of a bachelor_….? She thought to herself as she took in the scene. Even the snake had a meal in his tank… a scared little rat hiding in its corner. However where the other two were happily blazing through their food, Midgardsorm was taking his time with his meal. She shocked her head and forced herself to look away from the creepy sight of the snake.

"You're just in time for some melon if you want. We made sure we got extra for you."

"Ehh…. Thank you…." She replied politely, and set her package on the one section of the desk she could find not covered by junk food.

"You know Loki-san… I can try cooking for you sometime if you're this hard pressed for food…"

"Hmm." He looked up at her with a spoon in his mouth, and took it out. "You can cook, Mayura?"

"… basic stuff." She mumbled. _Better than what you're eating at least. I KNOW I can do better than convenience store food._

He gave her a smile that almost made her knees weak. "I might have to take you up on that sometime. Would you like some coffee ice cream?"

She looked down at the carton of ice cream, noticed it half melted, and gave a nervous smile and shake of the head. "No thank you."

"Suit yourself." He shoveled another spoonful into his mouth. "So how was your school trip to Izumo?"

"It was nice." She sat down on the bed since Loki was currently seated at the desk in the only chair in the shack. "The temple wasn't THAT impressive, but the town was fun to visit. In fact, I brought you some Warigo Soba from it to try out. It's their local specialty." Fenrir gave a little bark and looked at her expectantly.

"You can try some later Fenrir." Loki muttered as he scrapped the bottom of the ice cream carton. "You've already eaten enough today."

She couldn't help but smile at the depressed expression the dog seemed to put out at that, which was followed by a little whine. Fen-chan was so cute sometimes.

"Your being here leads me to the conclusion that you didn't run into any kappa, eh?" He smirked at her as he set down the now empty carton onto the ground. Fenrir immediately attacked it seconds later.

"Nope, no Kappa." She replied. "But I did get a glimpse at a fox. I went after it for a better look, but it got away in to the woods before I could see if it was anything like Kitsukoko. I guess I was… out foxed!" She laughed at her own supposed cleverness.

She noticed Loki's expression quickly loose the smile and he suddenly looked serious as he folded his hands beneath his chin. "You should be careful Mayura. It's dangerous to stick your nose into something just because you're curious. You'd do good to remember this."

Mayura was hit with a sudden wave of déjà vu at the comment, and shook it off. "Heh, I'll try to remember that, Loki-san." He sure said some seriously detective sounding stuff sometimes. Suddenly she remembered. "Ah!" She stood up and got the top package out of the bag and set it in front of Loki before sitting back down. "I got you a little souvenir from the shrine. It's based off the legend they're most famous for in Izumo. I hope you like it."

Loki opened the box and examined the wooden figurine with the delicately carved necks. "It's a really nice piece of work Mayura, thank you. The detail is to be admired. Orochi of the Eight Heads, I presume?"

"Yep." She nodded her head. "The one who ate all of Princess Kushinada's sisters, and he would of ate her too if the exiled god Susanaoo didn't come by and kill him."

"He married Princess Kushinada afterwards, didn't he?" Loki delicately set the statue on a shelf to his left, and continued to look at it.

"Yes… and one of his descendants was apparently Prince Ōkuninushi."

"I do recall a bit about Ōkuninushi. I think however I need to brush up on my Japanese mythology."

"I can get you a book from the library if you need it."

He smiled. "No, that won't be necessary. I have a couple books in my collection covering it."

Mayura glanced behind him at the big bookcase overflowing with books. "Oh…" Not only was he a detective, but he sure was a reader, and from what she could tell, a reader of everything from South American mythology to sociology. Maybe she should start reading more if she wanted to be a great detective…

"But thank you again for this figure Mayura, it'll look nice on a shelf in my new home once I gets built. Speaking of which, is everything ok with your father about my staying at your house during the construction?"

"Sure! Papa said it was fine. You can stay as long as you need." Inside she was nervously laughing as she recalled the incident with her father days earlier when she brought it up:

"_You mean that you invited that… THAT FORIEGNER to stay here till his house is built?!"_

"_It'll only be for a week or so, Papa. It won't be that long-"_

"_But in my house? With his… his weird creatures?!"_

"_They won't do anything Papa-"_

"_And my daughter! A strange man under the same roof as my sweet, innocent, teenage daughter?!... I WON'T HEAR OF IT!!"_

"_Mou! Papa! Loki-san is a complete gentleman, and my boss! He hasn't and he won't try anything with me! Besides, it's the right and polite thing to do to offer to let him sta-."_

"_Well I won't give him the chance to defile my daughter! Absolutely not! He's not to set foot on this property, you understand?! I'm putting my foot DOWN!"_

She sighed at recalling the hour or so of negotiating that took place after with her father. But her father eventually agreed to let Loki stay on the condition that she take up more shrine chores, and more studying, preferably at a prep school, but what mattered was in the end he DID agreed. She just hoped that if he was serious about keeping a constant watch on Loki that it wouldn't make Loki feel uncomfortable while staying there.

"Well, as long as it's ok with Mayura-Papa, we'll be delighted to stay with you two, won't we Fenrir?" Loki gave the dog what Mayura could of sworn was a sly grin. Fenrir responded with a few barks, and Mayura was left thinking about how the funny nick name Loki had just given her father seemed so familiar…

"I assured Papa of your character, Loki-san, so that's why he's agreed to let you stay as long as needed. You just might want to… stay out of his way as much as possible…."

If Mayura was paying attention she might of noticed the face Loki made at her comment, a pout almost, but at the moment her attention was unwillingly drawn to the tank where Midgardsorm was apparently starting for his dinner. The rat was running back and forth, panicking with constant squeaks of fear at the far end of the tank, the end currently without the snank as the snake was slowly slithering towards its prey. It sent the heebee jeebies down Mayura's spine to watch.

Her head swiveled away from it to the sudden knocking at the door.

Mayura glanced at Loki who was apparently making no move to get up, so she stood up and headed to the door. "Coming!" She wondered who was calling on Loki at this late hour. Behind the door Mayura found herself face to face with a middle aged man dressed in an overcoat and fedora hat. He looked rather worn out in his expression, and a bit confused to see her there.

"Ah, you'll have to forgive me for calling on you so late. I was told this was the residence of a local detective for hire, but I don't think I've quite got the right place…" The man began to bow.

"No, No! You've got the right place." Mayura smiled. A client! "Come on in!" The man followed her in, but as soon as she looked at Loki and the desk, she rushed to the desk and immediately started grabbing all the food and trash off. In a flash it was all removed from the desk, and thrown in the sink. She then went up to Loki and looked down at him expectantly. He looked back at her blankly.

"Ano…" she motioned her eyes at their guest, standing quietly in front of the table, and then motioned to the chair Loki sat in. Begrudgingly Loki stood up and let her take his chair. He really needed to find another one.

"Here you go sir, please take a seat!" Mayura invited as she set the chair down for the man, who in turn thanked her as he sat down. Loki leaned back against his bookshelf as Mayura began making a pot of tea.

"Welcome to my detective agency." Loki finally greeted to the man who was looking around all over the place. "You'll have to excuse our current accommodations. This is only temporary. Construction of our actual building will begin next week."

"Oh…" The man looked at Loki. "This place is fine, uh…"

Loki nodded, and continued. "I am Loki, and this is my lovely assistant Daidouji Mayura."

Mayura couldn't help but blush at the compliment as she filled the pot with hot water. The title was originally devised by her, but just the same, it came out of his mouth.

"Thank you Loki-san, Daidouji-san." The man had removed his hat, and was now staring at it in his hands.

"Tea?" Mayura asked. The man nodded, grateful, and she set down a cup and saucer before him. Mayura then sat down on Loki's bed.

The man started. "My name is Toriyama Ando, and well, recently my daughter disappeared." The man seemed to take his time before continuing on with a sigh. "It happened three nights ago today. She was at her prep school, a school which confirms she was there that afternoon, and she was never heard from again after she left. I… the police have looked into it now, but they say there have been no signs of what they call foul play, and they're heavily leaning on the assumption that my daughter is a runaway." He looked up at Loki now with a look of desperation on his face. "I come to you now because I have no other option. The police seem to be about to give up, concluding that Sakura-chan ran away, but…" His voice was starting to crack. "I know my daughter. She was a good child, and had no reason to run away… Please, I beg you… find my daughter."

Mayura looked to Loki as Toriyama-san lowered his head once more, apparently done explaining the case. This looked to be like it was a big case, just the type she was hoping they would get. A **true** mystery.

"Toriyama-san," Loki began, "I will do everything in my power to find out what happened to your daughter. You have my word." He paused and she could of sworn she looked down at Fenrir when he said the next part. "No father should have to go through what you're going through."

Mayura was trying really hard to suppress the glee she was feeling. She knew it would have been highly inappropriate for her to pull out her official Mysterious Mystery glasses now and go into one of her fits with the atmosphere Toriyama-san had created, but oh how she was feeling it! They were about to start a real case now.

* * *

_Hope you liked this chapter. And btw, like any other ff author, I luv reviews.  
_

_- Mischa_


	5. Undercover Pretty Girl Detective!

_You know, I'm starting to realize with all the murder and mystery books I read, I really have no freaking clue how to go about with a mystery. Please bear with me XD_

* * *

**C****hapter 5  
Fifth Night – Undercover Pretty Girl Detective At Your Service!**

* * *

"So do you think she ran away, Loki-san?" Mayura asked him as she walked next to him, munching on a crepe she bought at a stand earlier. Every now and then she'd drop a piece to Fenrir who walked between them, giving into the puppy eyes he was so good at.

"Since Sakura Toriyama took nothing with her that night except for her school bag, the evidence so far points that she didn't run away. People who run away tend to take personal things with them, and she didn't even take a change of clothes, or money. A runaway is extremely unlikely in this case."

"Hmm, I wonder what could have happened to her…"

"I doubt aliens had anything to do with it…"

Mayura looked to him with a surprised expression. "How'd you know I was thinking that, Loki-san?!"

"What kind of detective would I be if I couldn't deduce some of the things my assistant would think in certain situations?"

"Hmmm." Mayura looked off into the distance in thought. "Okay then…" She grinned. "What am I thinking now?!"

"I'd have absolutely no clue to help me out with what's going on in your head now Mayura, so I couldn't tell you." He smirked back at her. "I'm not psychic." Loki smiled and nodded a greeting to the housewife staring at him from a yard as they passed. Never hurt to be polite to the ladies. If he noticed the woman swoon after his passing, he made no sign.

"Mou, Loki-san is such a flirt." Mayura commented, observing the whole thing.

"Hmm?" He smiled at her, watching her from the corner of his eye. "Jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous?" The expression on her face told him she was completely puzzled at the idea, and with a sigh he decided to drop the subject. The pink haired teen was just too dense at the current time on the subject, and he supposed it was too early to play that game with her anyway. Until then however, he'd continue to have fun at making her blush, a reaction he took much amusement in since starting their relationship over in his true form. Her attempts at trying to hide it from him only added to the amusement.

Mayura was just finishing up her crepe as the approached the plain, grayish concrete building with very few, small windows. Not what he'd call very attractive architecture. As they entered the lobby, he was even less impressed with the off white walls, cheap impressionist prints, and fake plants. He really didn't understand modern architecture's goal in minimalistic design.

"Welcome to Ohtori Prep School." Greeted the woman behind the counter who kept her hair in a tight bun.

Loki gave the two women what he considered his best, most charming smile.

* * *

Mayura watched as the two women gave Loki their full attention, completely ignoring her. As he began with the questioning about Toriyama Sakura she couldn't help but note a lot of the questioning was on the verge of, if not already, flirting. Some would call it shamelessly flirting, but whatever it was the women were eating it up.

Mayura looked around the desk, and found what she was looking for; the sign up forms for classes. This was the closest prep school to home, and she did promise Papa she'd sign up with one, even if it meant even less time to work on mysteries. Besides, the trade off of having Loki-san stay at her house seemed to even it out. She listened to the conversation between Loki and the women with half an ear as she filled out the forms.

"So Toriyama-san would come to classes here every weekday, and leave around 8:00 pm?"

"Yep." The one bun woman responded. The one in front of Mayura added "We close soon after, around 8:15 every night. Sakura-chan was in our last class of the evening."

"Which class was that?"

"High school Algebra." Both said in unison.

_Ugh, the main class I need to sign up with_. Mayura thought to herself as she filled out the contact information.

"It was such a surprise when they told us she had run away!" They went on. "Sakura-chan was such a good student, never missed a class. So when she didn't show up the next day, we were surprised. Even more surprised when the police showed up again."

"Again?"

"Yes, a couple weeks ago we had another student run away. Her name was Yamato Shiroi. She wasn't as well behaved and studious as Sakura-chan, but well… with Sakura-chan running away, one would suppose Sakura-chan wasn't quite what she seemed to be."

"Was Yamato Shiroi in the same Algebra class as Sakura-chan?"

"No, she was in…. umm.. I think it was English. Let me go check up on that for you."

"Thank you."

While the one left, the other stayed and battered her eyes at Loki.

"So, you're not from around here, are you?" _Well of course! He's a blonde haired, blue eyed foreigner! Mayura t_hought to herself. It was so obvious.

"No, I'm fairly new to the town. I came here to start my own detective agency, and well, as you can see, I'm working on the Toriyama case."

"Mmm, yes. Well I hope you find out where the girl ran off to. Between you and me I suspect a man. Girls are always head over heels when it comes to young love."

"Did Sakura-chan have a boyfriend to you knowledge?"

"No, and the cops asked the same thing. Her father apparently knew nothing of a boyfriend, and from what I hear none of her friends knew of one either, but it wouldn't be the first time a girl kept a lover a secret. High school girls will do apparently anything for a guy these days." Mayura noticed the woman give her a side glance, more than likely since she was still in her school uniform. "But… that aside. Since you're new here, if you're perhaps looking for someone to show you around town, maybe take you places at night…" giggle "I'd be happy to show you around, any time."

Mayura could feel her cheeks burning at the apparent insinuation, and she turned her head slightly to get a look at Loki out of the corner of her eye. He seemed unfazed. Did he even get what the woman meant?

"That's very kind of you… Sunako-chan." A giggle from the woman at his reading her name tag. Was this how she was supposed to act around men? Constantly giggling and making insinuating offers? "I'll remember your… offer."

Was she really hearing this? Mayura sank slightly, red burning in embarrassment and another emotion she couldn't quite place. How could those two act like that in public? And in broad daylight?! Oh how she wanted to hide under a rock! The forms where finished anyway now, so she left them on the desk and decided to go do some exploring of the building she'd have to start attending since Loki-SAN seemed to not need help in the… questioning of witnesses. Besides, she might find a clue or two about Sakura-chan.

_Time to be a detective_! She thought as she entered a hallway and she put on her coke bottle glasses, more than likely with the intention of making it easier to find clues.

She wandered down the brightly lit, off-white halls, and took a look in the window at each door. Nothing but the usual chairs, desk, and a dry erase boards at the front of the room. But even worse, not a single window to the outside world to help her get her mind off math. _Boo._ She doubted she'd enjoy her time these classes.

As she turned a corner her next step slipped from under her and she suddenly found herself in the air, falling backwards. She tried grabbing for something before falling back onto the ground with a loud flop.

"Iiiitaaaaiii!" She whined, rubbing her rump until she noticed the janitor mopping the floor near her was watching. "Uh…."

The man turned around and went back to mopping the hall, ignoring her and not even offering to help her up she noted. Mayura spotted her glasses which had flew off her to her right, and reached out, picked them up, and put them in her pocket. Then she began to get up, but immediately found herself back on the slick wet floor. _Maybe it's time I consider buying better shoes…_

She saw no other option (since the janitor wasn't offering to help) than to slowly half crawl, half drag her way along the wall to the edge of the corridor in order to get a better hold of the corner sticking out which could help her with pulling herself up. That she decided was her best option on getting back up.

While crawling in the most undignified state, she couldn't help but go over in her head about how the janitor could have at least put on a watch for wet floor sign. If he did, she was sure she would have noticed it, and could have avoided her current situation entirely.

As she was just managing to pull herself up and stand on two feet again with the aid of the wall when a bark came from down the hall. She looked up to spot Fenrir coming towards her who gave another happy bark at seeing her. Soon after he was followed by Loki who every now and then was looking behind him, seemingly to see if anyone was following him.

He caught sight of Mayura clutching to the wall for dear life. "Ah, there you are Mayura." He stopped right outside the wet floor line, something she was too oblivious to notice her first time. He looked at her, then at the wet floor, then to the janitor, and then back to Mayura. "Having some difficulty, are we?" He smiled. She did NOT like his smile at that moment.

Her face burned in embarrassment. She would have preferred he didn't see her like this. She couldn't help but feel if she was a more skilled detective she wouldn't have fallen into such a predicament. "It's… really slippery." She noted for him as she continued to cling to the corner of the wall, wondering what her next move should be.

"Here, give me your hand."

She looked at the offered hand, and then slowly reached out for him before finally making contact. He gave her hand a squeeze and with that assurance she took a cautious step out onto the floor, and was instantly falling again. However this time Loki had her hand, and with a tug he pulled her to him. The first thing she noted was she wasn't on the floor again, thankfully. Then she noticed the rhythmic thumping coming from what she was pressed against, and slowly it dawned on her it was Loki's heartbeat. He had pulled her into a sort of embrace to keep her from falling, and so far hadn't bothered to push her away. Her own heart at that moment seemed to skip a beat as her face began to turn red once again.

"Are you ok, Mayura?" He asked.

She slowly looked up to notice his face just inches away from her, a look of amusement in his eye.

Instantly she pushed herself off of him, almost slipped on the floor once again, but this time managing to step away in time.

"Yes… Thank you for saving me from falling again, Loki-san." She couldn't bring herself to meet his face.

"No problem at all, Mayura."

She continued to look away, willing the blush to away. _Come on, go away, go away, go away…_ "I guess I need shoes with a better sole grip." She laughed nervously. After a few more seconds she was confident enough to look at him. "Did you find out anything?" They had begun to walk down the hallway once again, apparently this time for the exit.

"Yes actually. It's not much, but I'm certain enough now that the girls are not runaways. It's rather surprising actually that the police haven't caught on yet. What we're dealing with here are kidnappings."

"Kidnappings?"

"Yes. Sakura disappeared with nothing but her schoolbag like I noted earlier. We'll know for sure afterwards after looking into the details of Shiroi's case. If she left without anything as well, I'll be convinced we're working with a kidnapper. Which leaves us now with somehow getting the details on Shiroi's case, but we can begin to list the similarities between the girls. For starters, we know they were both in high school, and both attended this prep-school."

"So you think if they were both kidnapped, the kidnapper could have been watching them from here?"

"Yes, and if they did, they probably are still here."

Mayura started to look around as if they were being watched when she was hit with a brilliant idea. "Ah! Loki-san!"

He looked at her.

"Allow me to go undercover!"

"Undercover…" He raised an eyebrow. "Here?" She couldn't help but notice the note of disbelief in his voice.

"Yes. Papa wants me to start coming here for prep classes anyway. In fact, I already signed up. While going here I can keep my eyes and ears open for anything suspicious like suspicious looking kidnapper types!"

"I don't think that's a good idea Mayura. We don't know what's happening to these girls, but if their kidnapper _is_ using this place to select them, that would put you at risk."

"But I'd be ok! I'd be on the lookout!" This was too big of an opportunity for her to be really useful to him on a case. "Besides, what else are we going to do once we find out if Shiroi _was_ kidnapped? Just watch the building? Start asking more questions around here?" She was too determined now with all the undercover scenarios from detective comics she had read, running through her head. "Undercover is the best option! Besides this is the closest Prep School to home. Am I supposed to go to one all the way across town because you think I'll get kidnapped here?"

He was giving her a not too pleased look. Did he really think she wasn't capable of working undercover? She COULD do things other than secretary work.

Finally after what seemed like an hour to her Loki sighed in defeat. "I don't like it, but I guess I can't stop you. You just have to promise me you _WILL_ be careful, and if you suspect anything at all, you come to me first. Absolutely do NOT go after it yourself. The last thing I need is to be searching for you as well as the other girls."

She nodded happily. "I promise, Loki-san. I'll be extra super duper cautious! In the end you'll see just how well your assistant can do!"

"I never doubted the job you could do Mayura, I just don't want you to get hurt. You father would never let you work for me again if you did."

So was that it? He was just worried about her? Mayura started to feel really… warm and happy about that. She smiled at him, and nodded. "That won't happen. Papa wanted me to come here. If something were to happen to me here, who's to say it wasn't just because I was just taking prep-classes."

"Something better not happen to you, and don't use this as an excuse to not pay attention in your actual studies here either. Your father obviously made you go to a prep school for a reason."

"Mou..."

"And remember what I said about sticking your nose into something just because you're curious. You are to come to me first if there's any sign of something, anything at all, odd."

She nodded in agreement, still a bit fluttery over the fact that he actually was worried about her.

* * *

As they approached Mayura's home, Mayura kept going through her head about everything she knew about kidnappings, from Alien abductions to… well, she didn't know much actually. Ransom? None of the missing girls' families had received a ransom note yet, which made the kidnappings extra mysterious.

They had just come from the library where she suggested they look up information on the cases via the internet. Loki was a bit skeptical with the computer at first, but seemed rather interested in it after she pulled up a couple newspaper articles giving some of the details that they needed, like one article which interviewed Shiroi's mother stating she left with nothing, and also insisting she wasn't a runaway.

Mayura had even gone so far to suggest Loki get a computer for the agency, which he flat out refused stating her hated technology. She found it a rather odd attitude that an old person would have, but didn't think on it past that.

So now they were on the way back to her house after Loki had suggested he walk her since it was getting dark. He never offered it before which she found odd.

The shrine was soon coming into view, and she could spot several lights on signifying her father was home.

"Is there any time in particular I should try coming over tomorrow, Mayura?" Loki asked. Ah! That was right! He was going to stay there starting tomorrow. She'd have to make sure the guest room was nice and clean before she went to bed.

"I was thinking after I get out of school would be good. I could come over to your place and help you carry stuff over." She smiled.

"That sounds fine to me Mayura, and it's very nice of you to offer." He smiled at her, and she felt her heart skip a beat again. Suddenly she began to feel very odd again, like how she was feeling in the hallway.

"G… goodnight Loki-san." She bowed and began heading up the stairs, waving. "Goodnight Fen-chan!"

"Goodnight Mayura." He called back, joined with a bark from the dog.

She didn't bother looking back as she ran into her house, past her father who was resting in the sitting room, and into her room, practically slamming the sliding door. Once shut, she collapsed to the floor, hands to her face. Why was she starting to feel funny around him? It was much more odd than the usual feeling which caused her to blush around him. Unfamiliar, but also strangely pleasant…

_Oh god, is this was they called falling in love_? She really couldn't figure out what else it could be.

Someone was suddenly knocking on her door, causing her to jump. "Mayura.." Her father. "Are you alright? You ran in here pretty fast."

"Yes Papa, I'm fine."

"There's pizza I ordered if you're hungry."

"Okay! Thanks!" Was she in love with Loki-san? Maybe it wasn't love. Didn't crushes come first? It must be just a crush then. She never really had a crush before. Bah, having a crush on her boss was BAD. And bah, looks like Kaho-chan was right.

Somewhere far off she could have sworn she heard someone laughing.

* * *

_Well, there's chapter five. Please tell me what you think, and I'd love to hear suggestions from you guys if you have any. I don't know when the next chapter will happen because I'm a bit stumped on how to go about with the next one because I'm discovering it's kind of hard now to write this with only two characters. . I must think on how to go about with the next chapter. I definitely must get Mayura around characters other than Loki so she can ditz out properly because I'm scared of getting her too OOC cause she never was cautious with her behavior around Loki before in the manga, but now… hmm. Just stuff for me to think about._

_-Mischa_


	6. Food is the Way to a Man’s Heart?

_Hmm, well, I got a number of questions after the last chapter. _

_First, Loki-girl's question concerning Mayura. I really haven't decided if she'll get her memories back or not. I'm leaving the option open, but whether or not she'll get them back depends if I can work it into the story in a way I am satisfied and feel really works. Haven't gotten there yet. XD_

_Next, __-'neko-chikka'-__ Will we see some of the other characters show up, like the Norns, Freya, Freyr, etc? Eventually I plan on SOME of them making an appearance, but not any time soon. Certain characters just really wouldn't work into the plot too well at the moment with what I have planned, and the end of the manga which inspired this gave the impression that Loki was done with Asgard and the world of the gods, at least for a while. Narugami/Thor is the only one at the moment I really plan on using every once in a while, and I will admit I have some plans for the Norns, but everyone else is at a standstill at the moment. Heimdall is busy guarding the bridge, Freya is away pining away heartbroken, Freyr is… well… Freyr, Hel is from what I can tell stuck in the underworld (I have a plan with Hel I've been playing with), the Norns… well, not quite sure the survived the whole Odin deal with them apparently sacrificing themselves… so yeah, that's basically it for the moment. However, if I get enough people wanting it, I suppose I could focus a chapter on what they're doing at some point._

_Anyway, thanks everyone for all the great reviews. Here's the next chapter for you guys. It's… well… some stuff I didn't know just what to do. You can think of this as a sort of … filler chapter because I'm just using it to progress certain things. I promise action… soon. Including some stuff the Loki/Mayu fanatics will probably be pleased with in the next chapter. I think I ramble on a lot to get to where I'm going, sorry._

* * *

Chapter 5  
Fifth Night – Food is the Way to a Man's Heart?

* * *

"Ah, Mayura-Papa! Thank you so very much for letting me stay here while my home is under construction."

Misao stared at the young man in front of him, standing next to his daughter, both carrying boxes. You could tell Misao was annoyed by the constant twitch in his eye. He did NOT like this suspicious young man, and he did not like this suspicious young man near his daughter, and he ESPECIALLY did not like this suspicious young man staying in his house with his daughter, and him.

"Mmm" He mumbled, turning away from the two before going back to sweeping the shrine grounds with a renewed vigor.

"Ummm… I'll show you the room you'll be staying in Loki-san, and then I'll give you a tour of the grounds…" his daughter said, apparently the ideal example of a hostess.

Why'd his daughter have to be so strange? Any normal girl would be into clothes, boys, and if they were an especially ideal daughter, studying hard to get into a good college. Or maybe even getting ready to get married. But nooo. He was cursed with a macabre, mystery obsessed tom boyish freak. And his odd daughter, to make matters worse, had recently acquired this suspicious foreigner detective as a… a companion in her obsession.

Misao winced at the headache that surfaced at the very thought of what the young man meant for his daughter. Surely that wasn't her taste in men, but his daughter was into very strange things….

"Woof!"

Misao looked down to see a black puppy staring at him, wagging its tail. Apparently one of this "Loki's" pets. If he remembered correctly guy was bringing a snake too. The nerve of the man. Weird with an equally weird set of pets…

He glared down at the dog, and the dog stared back at him for a while longer, the tail wagging slowly coming to a stop. Then all together the animal's expression seemed to change completely. It no longer looked so happy, instead he could have swore it looked a bit miffed. The now not so happy pup walked over to one of the stone lamp statuaries on the shrine grounds, and lifted its leg.

It took Misao about three seconds to understand what the dog was doing, but by that time it was already halfway done.

"YOU MANGY MUTT! GET AWAY FROM THAT, AWAY! HOW DARE YOU!" He went at the dog, swinging his broom, and almost hitting the pup which luckily for it was just a bit too fast for him. It dodged out of the way before running towards the house, barking non-stop.

Misao was NOT liking this living situation. He wasn't liking it one bit.

* * *

"Daddy! Daddy! Mystery Girl's father is trying to kill me!_ Daaaaaaaadddddddddddddy!!"_

Loki turned to the direction his son's yelling was coming from. He and Mayura were just setting down the boxes containing some of his personal items, one of which was Midgardsorm's tank, when the pup ran into the room at top speed.

"DAAAADDDDDDDY!!" He yelled once again as he jumped up to his father, begging to be held. Loki picked him up.

"Looks like Fenrir is getting settled in. I'll go get him a bowl for water." Mayura volunteered and left for the kitchen. Loki gave his son a "what were you saying" look.

"Daddy! Mystery Girl's father is trying to kill me!!"

"Mayura Papa?" Loki asked in disbelief. Why would the man try to hurt one of his kids?

"YES! He's crazy! He's trying to kill me!"

"Nii-sama…" Midgardsorm slithered out of Loki's jacket, and looked down at his older brother. "Misao-san has never tried hurting you before. Did you antagonize him by any chance?"

From his Father's arm Fenrir looked as if he was insulted. "Me? Antagonize Mystery Girl's father? I leave that to Daddy because he likes it so much! All I did was try to take a piss, and next thing I know he's trying to kill me with his broom! HE'S CRAZY! Can't a dog do his business without getting attacked?! INSANE!" Fenrir then took on the hurt puppy expression and looked up to his father. "Protect me, Daddy!"

Loki had to smile at hearing what caused such a reaction out of Misao. "You can avoid Misao trying to kill you as long as you don't… piss in front of him I should think." He set Fenrir down lightly and then pulled out Midgardsorm's tank from the box and set it in the corner of the room. It wasn't that bad of a room in the minimalistic Japanese sense. A futon, a closet with drawers, a light… a window.

Midgardsorm, seeing him home ready, slithered down his father's arm onto his heating rock.

"Here you go, Fen-chan!" Mayura announced as she entered the room and set down a bowl of water for the dog. Fenrir suddenly found himself thirsty, and eagerly shot for the bowl.

"I have to cook dinner now, but if you need any help with anything Loki-san, just ask. I'll call when dinner's ready." And with that Mayura ran off again.

"Mystery girl is cooking?" Fenrir asked. "Dinner?"

"It would seem that way." Loki responded, just as surprised, but then again in such a small family with just her and her father, he supposed she did some cooking around the house. It didn't occur to him to take her offer of cooking for him the other night seriously.

"Can she cook?" Fenrir continued.

"Mayura-san helped out that one time I was on the cooking show, but I couldn't really judge her cooking ability since she was only doing the prep… and she did help out a bit in the kitchen. Never really cooking anything by herself though, always just helping me. I think Mayura-san could do alright."

This more than likely meant dinner was an all together event here, which meant eating dinner with her father. _Dinner with Mayura-Papa…_

If Misao could see the smile growing on Loki's face at the moment, he may have been very much afraid of his daughter's employer indeed.

* * *

"Alright! Tofu, check. Konyaku noodles, check. Beef… check. "

Mayura counted off her ingredients with a determination that would make her father wish she put the same into her studies. Loki was here for dinner, and more than likely there for dinner for the next week or so, which meant he'd be tasting her cooking which she was determined NOT to be embarrassed about. She wasn't a fantastic cook, but she knew the basics any Japanese girl knows, which meant Loki-san was getting a traditional Japanese dinner!

She had tied on her apron, and before her all the ingredients were spread out. On the menu for tonight was white rice and Sukiyaki. She believed she couldn't go wrong with that since she made the dish hundreds of times before for her father, and HE never complained, so that meant she wasn't bad… right?

So in the next hour or so she'd be seated at a dinner with her father, and her now accepted crush. (She saw no point in denying it now). What could go wrong?

Mayura couldn't get worries about her cooking out of her head.

"What if he doesn't like my cooking?" She began to wonder to herself. "What if… What if I'm so bad that I don't know it because Papa has developed an immunity to my cooking?!" Mayura stood frozen in horror, butcher knife in hand, with the carrots before her now completely forgotten.

_If Papa's developed immunity to my cooking, it could be like poison to anyone else! _

Visions of Loki eating her cooking popped into her limitless imagining. There Loki sat before hear, forking in some food to his mouth and then suddenly he was turning purple, then slowly blue with his eyes glazing over before finally collapsing onto the table and into his poison food dish. Then his little soul leaving his mouth, moaning that she killed him as it began its ascent to where ever it was ghosts went. On the side would be Fenrir, howling in grief.

But wait! What if his ghost didn't go to heaven! What if his ghost decided to haunt her in vengeance for killing him!

Haunted by the spirit of a well looking, young spirit, out for revenge. She might never get another good night's sleep! She'd be haunted, and as cool as ghosts were, having them haunt you wasn't good.

And she would have killed her first crush! Such an occurrence could start a chain reaction, or a ghostly curse, eventually transforming her into something like a Black Widow husband killer! Except she wouldn't be married, she'd just… kill people with her cooking! And all of their spirits would haunt her till her dying day!

And if she kept killing off any of her love interests with her cooking, it meant she'd die an old maid! She'd never have a lover, least of all her first kiss!

_Loneliness… hauntings… Black Widow…_

"Ah, Mayura…"

She swirled at the sound and found herself face to face with Loki. What poor Loki saw was a very pale, crazy eyed Mayura in an apron with a butcher knife, facing him, and breathing heavily.

"Mayura..?" Loki squeaked and slowly started backing away.

"I CAN'T RISK IT!!" She yelled suddenly as she swirled around back to the counter, stabbing the very large sharp knife into the cutting board before blazing out the back door.

Loki stared at the door the pink blur disappeared from, completely confused by what had happened, but wondering if perhaps he should make an effort to never EVER interrupt Mayura when she was in the kitchen again.

Loki then decided maybe something like tea at the time wasn't worth it. Water was easier, and at the moment less of a risk to his life.

* * *

Misao was trying very hard to ignore the addition of the blonde foreigner and his dog to who sat across him at his dinner table. Instead he focused his attention to his daughter who sat between them.

"So Mayura, when are you starting the prep school?" He asked as he helped himself to more rice. "Have you signed up yet?"

"Yes Papa, I have. I start tomorrow at Ohtori Prep, the one near Tamazawa-san's house."

He spooned on some more of the curry his daughter had prepared. By the taste of it, the curry was instant, as well as all the side dishes on the table if you can count macaroni and cheese as instant. He wondered in her odd choice of a side dish. Tempura would have been much more appropriate, and they had all the ingredients…

"You make sure you go every weekday. I will not be wasting my money on a prep school just because you choose to pursue your… strange interest. Your midterm grades will decide if you need to go to it on the weekends in addition to the weekdays."

"Mou, Papa! I don't need to take additional-"

"Don't start Mayura. I WILL see my daughter in a college, mystery sickness or not."

"Papa…" she was starting to pout but Misao forced himself to ignore it. He must not give in to his cute little daughter. He may indulge his daughter like any good father, but by this he would stand firm!

"I completely agree with you, _Misao-san_." The stranger across from him intruded. Misao slowly turned his head and looked at the young man. The man was giving him the most oddly agreeable smile as he leaned forward and rested his head on entwined hands. Apparently he was done with dinner.

Misao also made note that this was the first time the Loki character had ever called him by his name. Before it was always that nickname of his…. Mayura-Papa, wasn't it?

His daughter was gaping at the stranger, apparently not too keen with the comment.

"YOU agree with ME?" Misao repeated, not quite buying it.

"Of course!" Loki continued. "I agree with everything you just said. Mayura's education is most important, and she should be more focused on her grades than her mystery sickness. She's young, and her future depends on her grades." He actually looked concerned, and then the man smiled at his daughter who pouted at him. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate her work as my assistant, but I don't want her sacrificing her _bright_ future for it."

Misao continued to study the man as he went back to finishing off his dish and in the background he heard his daughter's usual "Mou".

Was he serious? He seemed sincere about what he said, but something just kept telling him not to trust this person. True, he didn't like the young man since his daughter first introduced Loki to him, but there was just SOMETHING about that smile the boy gave him sent his instinct reeling in distrust.

But now in light of getting to know him better he began to wonder if he misjudged the young man. Maybe this Loki could actually be a GOOD influence on Mayura. Misao continued to watch him, this time in a slightly different light.

Mayura was stacking some of the dirty dishes, puffing out her cheeks. Yes, he was a very concerned, caring father, only out for what was best for his innocent, but weird, sweet daughter.

"Ah! Almost forget about dessert!" Mayura announced before running off back to the kitchen.

Misao was left with nothing to do but stare at the foreigner in front of him, who just responded with what would usually be considered an innocent smile, but looked anything BUT innocent to Misao. Misao couldn't help but feel… irked by it. Something just wasn't right.

"Here ya go!" Mayura set down before them vanilla/chocolate ice cream in tall glasses. "American Style Parfaits!" She announced. Beside Loki the little dog barked. "Don't worry Fen-chan, I got one for you too! It's just in a bowl."

Misao started on his, still watching the foreigner so laced in his thoughts. He was currently eating away at the dessert with a very pleased look on his face. "This is… excellent, Mayura. Thank you."

Misao watched as his daughter begin to blush at the comment.

No, on second thought he didn't like this young man at all.

* * *

Loki sighed, now in the privacy of his room.

"Can I go sleep with Mystery Girl, Daddy?"

"Huh?" Loki looked down at his son. _Oh._ "Why do you want to sleep with Mayura?"

"She… said I could."

"Perhaps Onii-sama is trying to get more food out of Mayura now that she's the one feeding him." Midgardsorm suggested from his tank in the corner of the room. He, having eaten earlier this week wasn't one to worry about food at the moment, but the reaction he got out of Fenrir who quickly turned around and gnashed his teeth confirmed his brother's suspicions.

"I have no problem with it as long as she's okay with it…."

"Okay! Night Daddy!" And with that the pup shot out the room.

_He must think he's getting something good…_

Loki shrugged and decided to get to work. He had a lot of plans for Misao, and unfortunately most of them that came up during dinner he couldn't really do because of the position he was in. You do NOT tease/freak-out/antagonize the host of the roof you're sleeping under unless you WANT to get kicked out, and Loki didn't want to get kicked out. Or at least not till his house was finished, so until then he needed a more… discreet form of indulging himself. Since his powers were to where they naturally were without his Godhood, they were quite low now. So much that it would make it harder for Misao just to see things like illusions. He needed an accomplice Misao couldn't connect him with, one he had to his knowledge never seen before.

Loki began pushing the futon against the wall when suddenly there was a shout of his name.

"Loki-san!"

Mayura suddenly ran into the room and took a dead stop. "Oh…. Sorry… I didn't mean to just run right in here… I'm so used to…" she tiled her head when she got a good look at what he was doing. "What are you doing?"

"Ahh… just moving the mattress around. Seeing what… what would be more feng shui."

Mayura raised an eye brow as she studied the futon. "… Oh." Suddenly there seemed to be a spark. "Isn't that the weird mysterious mystic art of energies in a room?"

"Uh… yeah." Well at least she was buying it. Couldn't exactly tell her he was making room to draw all over her floor.

"Ah! That's neat! I want to learn to feng shui my room late- AH! I almost forgot what I came to ask you. Can Fenrir-chan sleep with me tonight?"

"…. Yes."

"Thank you Loki-san! Papa's never let me have a pet before, so I've never gotten to sleep with a dog!" She started to head back out when she turned around. "Goodnight, Loki-san."

"Goodnight, Mayura."

She smiled back and then shot off down the hall. "Fen-chaaaaan! Come on, we're gonna have fun. It's going to be like… like a sleep over!"

Hearing that Loki had to wonder if Fenrir really knew what he was getting into. He made sure the door was shut, and then got back to work. Once everything was properly cleared he took out a piece of chalk he brought with him and after a few minutes he was done writing out the proper symbols and runes. When he was done inspecting the pentagram-like design on the floor he finally called upon Laevateinn, and with a smile began.

"I summon thee, loyal subject to me, answer to my call and awaken, Ecchan!"

The room was suddenly filled with a lot of smoke, but once the smoke cleared Loki was greeted with a happy "Loki-tama!"

* * *

"Dorei…"

She was calling him. Quickly the man forced all thoughts of sleep from him mind, and jolted out of bed. If she was calling him, she didn't like to wait.

"Oh Dooooooreeeeeeei!" She was getting louder as he approached the door to what once was his room. Now it was hers. Once inside, he quickly shut the door. She sat among cushions in the center of the room, amid gauze and silk he setup for her own little pavilion of comfort, of beauty. A shrine to her.

He quickly bowed before her on the floor, head to the cool floor, afraid the darting glimpse he took of her every once in a while would anger her. He didn't want to displease her, but the very outline of her against the moonlight that came in through the window which were sealed black by day was breathtaking.

"Ah, there you are dorei."

"Hime…"

"I think it's time for another one."

"A… another girl, Mistress?"

"Yes, I said another one fool, did you not hear me the first time." The servant held his breath, afraid that even his taking another breath would displease her. But another girl? They still had the previous one…

"Fo.. Forgive me, oh envy of the sun, but… the Police… they'd get suspicious…"

"But I need another one, dorei. If I don't have another girl, you won't be able to stay with me, be with me. You do want to be with me, don't you dorei? You want to look at me, you want to touch me, even taste me, don't you?"

"Only if you would allow it…"

"Then I need another one."

"Then the current girl?"

"It's time to kill it I think. I'm ready for it, and besides… I can hear it crying and screaming at during the day. It keeps me awake. I can't get any beauty sleep with it doing that, now can I? Perhaps you should try and gag the next one."

"Yes mistress."

"… kiss my feet, dorei. You've been a good boy so far, a very good boy."

* * *

_There you go. Sorry this chapter took a while to get out, but I promise the next one will be out soon since I already have most of it written, and like I said, something that could be considered a serious Loki/Mayu moment. … or… well… I dunno. But yeah, next chapter up soon, and sorry to those who were expecting Loki to do more to Misao. Loki has plans… he just can't be seriously evil to Misao at the moment._

_ Mischa_


	7. Things That Go Bump in the Night

_For this chapter I just want to say… guys are guys. We may hope they think a certain way, but my brothers and my father have … insisted it's different and have pounded this in my head; They go by instincts and urges, and sometimes they really can't help themselves. Hell, I'm a firm believer that every guy needs a good porn collection (girls, don't get mad at your boy if he has one, they NEED them unless you put out as much as they need), and I'm basing actions in here on that, and don't see why a god should be any different, ESPECIALLY with certain gods that popup in mythology. Don't give me any "Loki wouldn't do that!" stuff. His name is Loki after all, and he is a HE. _

_And some of you are going to be severely disappointed because this chapter is nowhere near as naughty as I'm making it sound. :P_

* * *

**Chapter 7  
Seventh Night – Things That Go Bump in the Night**

* * *

_**Nine homes I know, and branches nine**_

_Nine… homes…_

_**Growing from out the stalwart tree**_

The… Ygg…?

_**Down in the deep abyss**_

_The.. Yggdrasil…_

**_Loki-sama…_**

… _Skuld…?!_

"Loki-sama!"

"Loki-tama!"

Loki's eyes snapped open to meet the snake eyes of his son and the floating form of Ecchan. A look of relief was cast over the snake's features as he slivered off his father who was beginning to sit up.

"Forgive me, Loki-sama…"

Loki rubbed at one of his eyes. His dream… there was something about the dream he just had, but he couldn't remember it.

"You were talking in your sleep and you sounded upset, and were getting louder. I was… I didn't think you'd want to wake up Mayura and her father…" The snake bowed low.

"It's fine Yamino… it's fine…" He answered still in thought about his dream as he slowly rubbed the back of his head. The snake began slithering back to his tank. "Ah, by chance, did you hear what I was saying?" Loki asked.

The snake stopped and turned his head around to meet his father with the dark brownish green slitted eyes. "I couldn't make out much of it Loki-sama, but I do believe you said something about the Yggdrasil."

The Yggdrasil. The World Tree.

"Thank you Midgardsorm …" He told his son, and took a look at the clock. It was 6:00 am, which was way too early for him, however he doubted he'd be getting back to sleep. He couldn't remember much of his dream, but something about it had troubled him so he decided to get up and get dressed. He had a plan concerning Mayura Papa's wardrobe and Ecchan anyway, he wanted to try out. You could never get up too early for a prank.

* * *

"Ugh!" Mayura kicked the cement wall surrounding someone's house in frustration. She hated the prep school which she just so happened to be on her way home from at that moment. Her teacher was some mean old man who had a nose bigger than Sherlock Holmes, and was nowhere near as cool. 

That day they had to turn in a homework assignment with over fifty algebra problems, and she did them all so she thought she was ok. But after their papers were returned at the end of the class she got hers back and almost every single problem was marked with a big red obnoxious x. She got only 5 out of 100 points, and to make matters worse BigNose-Sensei added a letter of concern to her father, and her father would NOT like it.

"Mouuuuuu." Mayura continued on, head slumped down in depression.

And even MORE disappointing, nothing suspicious had been happening around the prep school. No weird spooky looking people, no suspects, no returning runaway girls, no ghost, no aliens, no nothing. They wouldn't be able to continue to investigate the case without more clues! And since Loki's 'office', in other words his shack, was currently under construction, no additional cases could get to them either since people didn't really have a way to contact him.

She mentally kicked herself for not figuring out a way for possible clients to contact Loki-san while he was away from his sheack, but then again Papa probably wouldn't like a bunch of strangers trying to get mysteries solved showing up at their house.

Around another corner she found herself at the site of Loki's house under construction. There were still several construction workers out, and from what she could tell with her limited construction knowledge they were laying down the beams for the roof. They looked to be done with most of the frame, which they had been working on over the last couple days.

She wondered how much longer it would take. So far the design seemed to be a big western style mansion, huge, at least three stories tall. Was Loki somehow secretly rich? Surely he was to be able to afford such a building? Either way she felt the Western design fit Loki very well. She couldn't imagine him living in anything else… well anything else other than his shack. This was a much needed improvement for a Great Detective.

"Oy, Hey Daidouji!"

Mayura turned to greet the construction worker who was calling her. Over the last couple days with her stopping to watch the construction one of the construction workers was getting friendly with her, and liked talking with her oddly about anything really.

"Hi Narugami-san!" He walked up to her in his usual yellow hard hat and tool belt that held his favorite hammer. He told her once the name of the thing, and she really couldn't remember what it was. She thought it was kind of odd he named his tool anyway, but then again maybe a lot of construction guys did it. "How many more days do you think till Loki-san's house is done?"

"Well…" He turned around and looked at the frame skeleton of the house. "We'll soon begin with the plywood, electrical, and plumping, then the drywall inside, and then the boarding on the outside, and then we'll have to do the molding, and the hardwood floors, and the trimming and other random details inside cause Loki's really particular about what he wants."

"Hmm, sounds like it'll still be a while."

"Yep, you're gonna have to have him stay at your place longer I guess. Another week at least." He laughed.

"How'd you know he was staying at my place, I never told you before..."

"Eh?" He gave her a startled look. "Well… eh… I… well Loki you see… he… he's always here telling us what to do! While you're at school you see. We just know him from when he's here, and he… let it slip he was staying at your place."

"Oh…" Mayura was still a bit confused about it. Why'd he call Loki by just his name if he only was an acquaintance? Then again he did it with her too, so maybe he just didn't know any better…

She looked over the site again, and her eyes fell on the pile of rubble that had yet to be taken away. "Find anything mysterious in all the rubble?"

"Eh?... Mysterious…?"

"Liiiiiiiiike… spooky artifacts or human bones?!" She grinned leaning forward.

"…. Nope. None of that."

"Oh… I just had this… FEELING that there was something about the house that used to be here. Something… strange." She looked around the property. She always had the oddest sense of familiarity with this place, since the first day she was here and met Loki-san, and she just couldn't explain it.

She noticed Narugami was watching her. "What… something on my face?"

"N…no no. Nothing on your face. Just… Wondering if you'll take something to Loki for me." He smiled.

"Huh? What? "

"Well, we didn't find anything… mysterious in the rubble, but I did find a couple books Loki might want back."

"Want back? He lived here before?"

"What?!" The guy face faulted, and Mayura couldn't help but think he was acting odd. "Nooooooooooooo. I have no idea if he lived here before. None what so ever. It's just… we found them on his property, and I thought he might want them. He seemed like the bookish type." He was laughing again.

"Sure, I can take Loki-san some books."

"Great! Be right back, Daidoji!" He ran off behind some big truck thing she couldn't name, and after a minute or so returned with about three books. He handed them to her, and she looked over them. Nothing really that mysterious. Something on world religion, another on physics, and another that looked like Darwin's Origins of Man. Stuff she'd find in school. Boo.

"Yeah, I can take them to him no problem."

"Great then, Daidouji. You have a good day, I gotta go! Work calls to me!" He waved her off as he ran back to the ever progressing house.

She looked back down at the books and with a sigh headed back to her home.

* * *

Back home it took Mayura a while to find Loki. He was nowhere in the house, so she began to search the shrine grounds. The sky was just turning to dusk, turning a deep redish pink when she found him reading under a tree with Fenrir at his knee. 

She was standing a number of yards off, books resting behind her back, watching him. From what she heard from school, most of the other girls would be envious to find she had a guy like this at home, which is one reason she was avoiding introducing him to Kaho. The girl would probably make up excuses to hang around Mayura's house if she knew.

The light was just getting to the point that it gave his hair a dark, red sheen, and just resting there he was picture perfect to her. Gorgeous. Like one of those mythical gods shot down from heaven for just for her, but better than a mythical god, he was a detective!

She smiled to herself, and at that moment he seemed to notice her. He looked up from his book and gave her one of his odd, smirks. "Hello Mayura, I didn't hear you." Fenrir lifted his head and looked at her. "Have you been waiting there long?"

"No… I just got here Loki-san. Here!" She pulled out the books and offered them to him. "The construction worker said you might want them. They found them in the lot under some rubble." Suddenly he was up, taking the books from her.

"Well… I'm surprised they survived in that rubble undamaged." He smiled at her, and her heart did that skip a beat thing again she noticed. "Thanks for bringing them to me."

She was blushing again, she knew it. "Ah, you don't have to thank me. Narugami-san is the one you should thank. He's the construction worker who found them." He raised an eyebrow.

"I'll have to thank him then, but thank you anyway Mayura, for bringing them here."

"N… No problem." She replied nervously. "I have homework I… I need to do. Bye Loki-san!" She quickly made her way back to the house, leaving the smirking young man behind.

* * *

"Mou, Fen-chan. Papa can be just so annoying sometimes. Doesn't he realize Loki-san is just being polite. Why does Papa dislike him so much? He's been a gentleman since he's got here!" She was just finishing up braiding her hair before, and was dressed in her favorite pink pajamas. Fenrir was doing his usual bark talking he did so often, when she plopped down on her bed. Immeadiantly he jumped up at her, still barking. 

"He act's like Loki's the one who let all those moths into his closet! It's not Loki-san's fault Papa forgot the moth balls! He doesn't need to take it out on Loki-san, ESPECIALLY at dinner."

As she lay down, Fenrir jumped on her, barking even more. She laughed. Sometimes the dog just didn't shut up. "I know what you want Fen-chan. You want more moochi, don't you?" She teased.

A bark and a wag of his tail answered her, with some droolage buildup.

She picked him up and set him down next to her. "Well unfortunately for you, it's bed time, and if I keep feeding you moochi before you go to sleep, you're going to turn into a fat dog." She patted his nose with her finger attempting to make it seem like a lecture. "You don't want to be fat, do you? If you get fat, you won't be able to sleep in my bed with me anymore!"

More barks came from him as she turned out the light, and went back to petting him to get him to eventually quiet down.

If she could understand the Fenrir, she would have heard something along the lines of "Stupid Mystery Freak" and "GIVE ME SOME FOOD DAMN YOU! I AM NOT FAT!"

"Night, Fen-chan." She mumbled.

* * *

"Loki… san?" 

_Another dream?_

Loki moved around in his sleep, assuming he was hearing things in his head.

"Loki-san?"

Loki opened his eyes to a dark room and waited as they slowly began to adjust to the light. Outside the never-ending repetitive sound of the rain continued, almost dulling him back to sleep, but he was certain he heard something. Someone had called his name... it wasn't in his head.

Suddenly the room was awash in light as lightning lit it up, and at the foot of his futon was Mayura, dressed in a loose wrap around kimono-style rob, hair braided to the side, looking down at him.

"Mayura?!"

Just as soon as it had come, the light was gone.

Loki's hand started fumbling to his left for the lamp when he suddenly felt her weight near his leg, on the futon with him.

"Wha… what's wrong Mayura?" He asked the darkness.

"Loki-san…" Her voice came to him, lower than usual, husky. Suddenly he felt her hand on his chest, and gently she pushed him down as she positioned herself above him, lightly pressing on his abdomen with her weight as she straddled him.

"Wha…" Thoughts were reeling through his head, all secondary to the one fact that Mayura was on him in an extremely inciting way. Did she realize what she was doing to him? "Ma… Mayura?!" He could feel the sweat now.

"Shhhhh, Loki-san..." With what little light there was he could just barely make out her shape, and as his eyes continued to adjust, he noticed her hair was braided and hanging down over one shoulder, the other shoulder alarmingly bare as the robe fell loosely around her. She looked down on him with heavy lidded eyes. "I need you." She whispered as she began to lean over him.

Needed him? Maybe he _WAS _still dreaming.

Her lips suddenly found his, and his eyes widened for a shocked moment before he was unconsciously kissing her back, eagerly taking her in. Soon she was urging for a deeper kiss, and he was more than willing to give in to her. This was something new with Mayura, this was DEFINATLY new. Maybe he was dreaming.

For as long as he'd known Mayura before, he had been sealed in the form of a child which actually was a mixed blessing when it came to women. They may have thought him as no more than a child, but he also had no needs or urges, even when Freya would be all over him. It made things a lot easier most of the time.

Before being sealed he was one to give into his whims, especially when it came to women, and now as Mayura's hands were passing over him, as she continued to kiss him, the places where she touched practically burning, it was slowly dawning on him it had been a long time since he was last with a woman. A very long time indeed, and here the cardinal desire was slowly rising in him as strong as ever.

Mayura may have innocently tempted him in the past, but none of it was anything on this level before, and he was having an extremely hard time saying no, not that he wanted to at the moment. As she pressed against him he was reminded that the girl he spent his days with still had the body of a woman.

His hand met the exposed skin of her thigh, heat rising at the bare contact. She broke away from him for air and instead he focused on the soft skin of her neck. Slowly his hand made its way up her thigh and a smirk formed on his lips at the discovery that she wasn't wearing anything at all under the robe. He continued to kiss her along the colar bone where his smile widened as he was rewarded with a moan from her as his other hand found a breast and gave it gentle squeeze. He could feel through the fabric her nipples were already hardened, and he found the situation take an even more agreeable turn when she finished unbuttoning his nightshirt.

Perhaps it was time to do away with the robe and pursue the sensation of skin upon skin?

Something oddly felt wrong as she began moving down his chest with eager little kisses and nips, but he didn't spend another second on the though once desire suppressed it. How could something so good feel wrong?

She came back up to kiss him and he eagerly leaned up to meet her half way. As she sucked on his bottom lip he came to the realization she was fiddling with the drawstring to his pants. With another tug at the hem of his pants the idea that something was wrong suddenly intensified, and in that moment instinct was suddenly overruled by logic.

The situation was _definitely_ not right. He broke the kiss with a shake of his head in an attempt to clear it. Mayura. Mayura was in his room. Mayura was in his room, _seducing_ him? Mayura? Seducing _Him_? Something was definitely wrong with the situation, as enjoyable as it was.

He took her chin in hand and pulled her close to study her eyes. She leaned in to kiss him again, but he kept her where she was. "What are you doing, Mayura?"

"……?" Her eyes looked at him full of confusion. "What's wrong, Loki-kun?" She whispered, hurt in her voice. The honorific along with the hurt tone began to stir up emotions in him which he quickly stomped out. There was something about her eyes that just wasn't right. Wasn't _natural_… and then there was THAT. The _kun_.

He gently pushed her off of him before standing up and finding the lamp. With a click it came on.

Now in full light he was met with the site of a rather disheveled Mayura sitting so wantonly with a large amount of skin exposed. Feelings began to stir in him again which he quickly fought. This wasn't Mayura. This wasn't HIS Mayura, as much as he wanted it to be. His Mayura, his innocently naïve, and_ inexperienced_ Mayura, was in his room, rather successfully seducing him? Who he had just encountered was an experienced and eager woman. Not the young and still certainly a virgin mystery freak he liked to indulge.

"What's wrong, Loki-kun?" Her eyes pleaded with him with the continued look of hurt. "Don't you want me?"

"Who are you?"

"What?!" She stood up and faced him, arms wrapped around herself. "I thought you liked me, Loki-ku-" She took a step forward.

"Quit calling me that." He interrupted, hand out to motion to her to keep back. He was certain of it now. "_What_ are you?"

A she watched him a smile slowly crept to her lips and she met his gaze again. "You sure _look_ like you want me. Is Loki-kun certain he doesn't want Mayura to help him with _that_?" She motioned down to his waist.

"Cheh!" Loki pushed Mayura back against the wall, pinning her and knocking the lamp over in the process, sending the room back into darkness.

"My my, aren't we rough with girls?" The thing that looked like Mayura laughed. Lightning lit up the room again for a moment, and he found himself looking into a pair of eyes that definitely weren't Mayura's. They almost glowed and had an intelligent, feline quality to them. "Do you treat all women who throw themselves at you like this? I can't imagine you getting laid much if you do."

"Whoever you are, I want you out of Mayura. Now!"

"Oh? But she's so interesting! Not only is she a disbelieving Miko, which I REALLY like, but I've never been in a human with a memory block quite like this, and my, what unique memories she has behind it, Loki-_KUN_."

Loki continued to pin her down with one hand as he called upon Laevateinn with the other. Within a second the staff was in his hand, and he set the moon portion of it lightly against her forehead. "Leave!" He demanded.

Under the increasing glow of Laevateinn he watched as her face scrunched up, and finally she moaned before slunking down against the wall. At the same time a shadow began to materialize above them in the room, and moved over to the floor. He set Mayura lightly down on the tatami mat floor before turning around to face the shadow of whatever it was that had possessed her, Laevateinn menacingly poised in front of him.

"Tcccccccch! Do you have any idea how painful an exorcism is?!" The cloud materialized into a small, four legged shape, and within seconds Loki was staring at the bright, intelligent eyes of a fox. White with two he counted. "Guess I need to work on my charms a bit more, eh?" it asked.

Loki made no response. "Heh. Please do be so kind as to tell me what I did wrong? I like to prefect this type of work. Was she being a bit too assertive for you? Or do you perhaps not… what's the term these days? Not sw-"

"Who are you?" Loki commanded again with ice in his voice. He didn't want it playing around with him anymore.

The fox studied him, tilting its head to the side. "Heh, I like you, Loki… sama. Not a lot of men can say no to a sexy little vixen sneaking into their room at night."

"Lucky for me I'm not like a lot of men."

"Hmmm. Indeed you aren't." The fox continued to study him. "Well, some men do have different opinions of luck obviously. Yours might be in the minority however, but never the less, I suppose that's good for your… character." The creature gave him a crooked smile. "I would have lost much respect for you I suppose if I succeeded. Mayura of course wouldn't have remembered any of it, but I can assure you she would have enjoyed it very much if she did. But then again if I succeeded it meant I could trick you, and then that in turn would mean you more than likely aren't worth a lot as help to the Master, and that's really what it all comes down to. My being here that is."

"What master?"

"My great and powerful Master who actually shares a lot of similarities with you. One thing that's different, however is that while you are no longer an immortal in your banished state, with weakened powers, my master stayed the same. Well… his powers WERE weakened slightly. I supposed being a heavenly being and then being banished has that side effect to everyone."

"Who is he?"

The fox flicked its tails, and watched for another couple of seconds before responding. "You'll find out in time, Jouten. When my master is ready, you will find out." Then with a flash he twisted around, and next thing Loki knew the sliding door was open out into the raining yard, and the fox was gone.

* * *

Loki watched Mayura as she made her father a cup of coffee. So far this morning there was nothing odd about her behavior to signal to him that she remembered anything while being possessed, which usually was the case with her in the past. Still, he couldn't be too cautious. If she found it odd she woke up in her bed with nothing except a robe, she didn't let him know. Same cheery, energetic, eager to do good Mayura as always. 

"Thank you Mayura." Her father said as she set the coffee in front of him.

"What about you Loki-san, would you like some coffee?"

"No thank you, I'm fine Mayura." He stirred his spoon in his bowl of cereal to show interest in it. Cold wheat with cold milk. Dishes just became more and more odd over the years.

"If not coffee, would you like some tea?"

"Mayura, won't you be late for school?" Misao sounded annoyed.

"Not at all. I got up early today Papa so I could make sure you all had some breakfast!"

Loki smiled. "If it wouldn't trouble you, I'd love some tea."

"Tea it is then!"

As she rushed around the kitchen to prepare his tea, thoughts of the previous night invaded his mind as they did for most of the night, sadly keeping him awake. Those legs there now in a school issued uniform were under his hand, completely bare. Those lips which spoke something to her father, he knew them to be soft and surprisingly sensuous. It may have been a kitsune going through the motions, but it was still Mayura's body, the body that was now in front of him and which even though he didn't want to, he began to feel a yearning for.

He forced his gaze elsewhere, to the window, making himself think of anything else before he was noticed because he was sure by the way his face was heating up he might have been blushing. He couldn't have her father noticing his sudden interest in Mayura, or worse, embarrass himself with physical things beyond his control. Thinking of a woman in such intimate situations never did a man any good in public.

He sighed. It never before really hit him to consider her like that. Sure there had been a random dream in the past, but dreams were dreams, and nowhere near the real thing, premonitions excluded. No with Mayura, it was previously all innocent with him. Well, as innocent as could be with him.

He was a playboy, and the flirting habit was hard to break. He never seriously considered the effects of it on Mayura, he just did it for the reaction that happened then and there. He never before really considered pursuing her because he was happy enough just being with her and indulging her little detective fantasy. But thinking about it now he had to wonder what he really thought about her. He wasn't about to go ruin their friendship just because he suddenly had an itch that needed to be scratched. He especially didn't want to lead her on without being sure what his own feelings for her were. He knew he felt something for her, but what exactly he was feeling was something he was unsure of.

And then that damn kitsune had to come along and taken possession of her and attempted to seduce him using her, which in turn started him thinking about her in ways he had never before let himself consider. Feh, nasty little inconvenient thoughts. He was better than this.

A tea cup suddenly appeared in front of him, pulling him away from thinking. "Thank you." He said as she smiled down at him. He gave her a smile back before burying himself in his thoughts again.

He hadn't been able to get back to sleep last night at all. Long after he put her back to bed and made sure the kitsune wasn't around anymore he was left lying in bed, wide awake, thinking, and not just about Mayura.

The kitsune wasn't just some random magical being up to mischief, it was sent by someone. Kitsune were a creature native to Japan, not counting the common fox found all over the world, and none of the other Norse gods ever used them, so he doubted it was any of them. Which led him to consider a local being. But being local kami or foreign like himself, either way since he apparently passed the kitsune's test, he supposed he'd see this Kitsune's master when the 'master' wanted to make himself known.

Loki just preferred it if they kept his human companion out of it.

"Bye Loki-san! By Papa!" Mayura called to them from the back kitchen door. "I'm on my way to school, have a good day!"

"Bye Mayura."

"Goodbye, Mayura."

With that she ran out the door, and Loki lingered, gazing at the spot where she disappeared.

After a few moments Misao cleared his throat. Loki turned his head and when Misao saw he had Loki's attention, stated "I'm telling you right now I don't like the way you stare at my daughter."

"Whatever do you mean, Misao-san?" Loki asked, smiling behind his cup of tea. Misao didn't answer, and instead gulped down the rest of his coffer ah, that must of hurt and left the room.

Ah, poor Mayura-Papa, if only he knew.

Maybe he should just forget all his planned pranks with Ecchan and continue to stress Misao out with the old "I'm after your daughter" routine. He never really got to play at that one in his old form, and Misao looked eager to play the game.

* * *

Mayura stared at the white board covered in algebra problems, and just couldn't concentrate. She had too many mysterious things on her mind. When she had entered the prep school today there were detectives questioning the ladies behind the desk, and one of them was Papa's friend, Inspector Niiyama. Upon asking around further, she found out another girl had gone missing the previous night, a Nezumi Tategami. No one knew what happened to her, and with the disappearance of another girl the police seemed to now be looking at it as something other than just runaways. 

"Alright! Remember everyone, you have problems twenty-seven through sixty-eight of page 146 to do in your workbook tonight. I expect them to be finished by class tomorrow!"

Along with the rest of the class, Mayura gathered her books and followed everyone else out, but she didn't follow them to the exit of the building. No! Now it was time to investigate.

Mayura pulled out her investigation notebook and her mystery glasses and began searching through all the empty classrooms and hallways. Every student she spotted she questioned about the missing girls, and after about an hour of going around she found she had absolutely not a single clue.

No one knew anything about what happened to Nezumi Tategami. They saw her leave class like she usually did, and no one else thought a single thing more of her, other than perhaps it was such a shame since she was so pretty. And no one had any new information on the last two girls either.

She sighed in defeat and decided maybe it was time to run off home now and tell Loki about the missing girl. Maybe he could figure out another way to find clues.

She was heading off to the main lobby when she noticed some dark, spilt liquid on the floor.

Was it a clue!?

After about another minute of staring at it, and even sniffing her, she came to the disappointing conclusion that it was just a coffee spill someone forgot to clean up, and she should go tell the janitor about it before someone slipped on it. Should she tell the ladies in the lobby, or go look for mean janitor who wouldn't help her last time when she fell on his slippery floor?

She was about to try for the first when suddenly she saw down the hallway the janitor's closet open with a mop out in front of it. She walked down to the door. "Janitor-san!... …?" The Janitor wasn't in the closet. Where could he of… there was a sudden flushing sound nearby and she supposed that was him in the men's room across the hall.

She was getting ready with how she'd tell the janitor about the spill in the hallway when something in the closet caught her eye. It was a black leather schoolbag sticking out behind a bucket. She took a step forward to get a better look at it, and the name tag with "Tategami Nezumi" written in big bold letters stood out at her.

Then she noticed below that bag was another, and another. The one right below the top had the name Toriyama Sakura." And she was willing to bet her whole week's allowance that the one on the bottom said Yamato Shiroi.

"Can I help you?" A deep voiced asked from right behind her, causing her to jump. She swirled around and came face to face with the worn aging face of the janitor.

"Ah… ano.. not really." _ Have to play it cool. Have to play it cool! Can't let him know I know, because IT'S HIM! IT'S HIM IT'S HIM! HE'S THE KIDNAPPER! Hahaha, I figured it out!_

Suddenly she remembered an excuse. She hit her fist into her hand and went "Ah! Actually you could! I came looking for you. You see, someone was very inconsiderate and left this big old coffee spill in the hallway near the lobby an-"

"You saw them, didn't you?"

"Eh?"

"You saw THEM."

"N… No…. no no no! I didn't see anything. I don't know what you're talking about, Janitor-san." Mayura laughed nervously not even aware that the man was slowly closing the closet door behind him as he stepped in.

* * *

_Ha, bet you no one DIDN'T (sarcasm) see that happening to Mayura. I was really bad at being discreet with that. :P_

_Ooo, I'm having so much fun planning this story out now. And I suppose I'm taking liberties with Mayura's character concerning the disbelieving Miko thing. I really have no freaking clue whether or not the whole "I don't believe in Gods" thing was an anime only thing, or also in the manga, but I'm going to assume it's in the manga too for the hell of it cause I already wrote it down and my friend who reads Japanese and has read the whole manga is out of town and I can't bug them. Phewie. I was blushing the whole time I wrote out that scene Loki/Mayu scene too because I think I'm such a perv for writing it, but the Loki/Mayu fangirl in me made me, so … hopefully any of you other fans of the coupling enjoyed it as well. If it was horrible, tell me now and I shall avoid anything similar to it from here on out:D_

_Next chapter is already almost finished, I'll post it maybe around Satuday. It's getting easier and easier for me to write this stuff now. _

_And oh yeah! Pretty please review? wonders if she gave everyone enough hints as to who the kitsune's master could be- Fufufufufuuu._

_ Oh, and one last question for you readers. Should I upgrade this fic from a T for Teen rating to a M for Mature? I was just wondering about that. .> **I** think the content of my story is perfectly fine for 13 year olds and up, but then again I'm told I put too much confidence in teens. You guys tell me. Just wondering cause if I put it with M, it won't pop up on the main page anymore for you guys to see without having to switch the thing to mature ficcies.  
_


	8. Creatures From A Lower World

_Special thanks to everyone who's left a comment._

* * *

**Chapter 8  
Eighth Night – Creatures From A Lower World**

* * *

Loki looked up, noticing the light in the courtyard of the shrine was no longer bright enough the read by. Far off the sun was just disappearing over the horizon. 

"Is Loki-tama done with the book?"

"No, just done for the day. It's too dark to read outside." He pet Ecchan as he watched the sun go down. It was getting late….

"Ecchan, did you notice Mayura come home yet?"

Ecchan looked up at him with it's big, innocent eyes and slowly shook his head. "No, Loki-tama, Mayura-chan didn't come this way if she did."

Loki stood up and brushed himself off, and then headed into the house, Ecchan not far behind.

"Daaddy!!" Fenrir cried as soon as Loki opened the door. "I've been shut up all day since you went out daddy! I haven't eaten ANYTHING!!"

"So Mayura hasn't come home yet?'

"No, Mystery Girl hasn't come home. She needs to though, I need to eat!!"

"Is Mayura-Papa home?"

Fenrir looked away, then around, particularly in the direction of Misao's room. "Noooope. Nope, no Mystery Girl'S Father YET."

Loki raised an eyebrow at his son's reaction to the question. If his son was up to something however, he was sure he'd find out about it soon enough. Instead, it was time to be a good Father and feed his child! He pulled open the Daidouji fridge and stared. Fenrir eagerly popped up next to him, with Ecchan floating above.

"Ooooo, that that Daddy! Thaaaaaaat!"

"What?" He looked down at the beaming pup. "The chicken?"

"Yes! The CHICKEN!" Loki looked back at the chicken. A whole, raw chicken… in some cases perhaps it would be rude to take a whole chicken like this from someone's fridge, especially if it were perhaps a planned dinner, but he was a most loved guest in this house! And his son was starving! And their hostess was away, causing the starving of the said child.

Loki pulled out the chicken, cut off the plastic, threw the plastic in the trash –"musn't leave plastic around children" he chimed to himself-, then placed the chicken, -completely raw- into his son's designated bowl before setting it down before his son who's eyes were now welling up in tears of happiness.

"Oh. JOY!" Was all Fenrir could squeak.

"I'll be in my room…" Loki stated before walking off, completely confident that his son would finish off all evidence of the chicken before anyone would notice it missing.

**Thirty Minutes Later…**

Loki slammed open the sliding door to his guest room, and barged out with a not too happy expression on his face. Where WAS that girl! He was HUNGRY! How dare she leave such a handsome guest as he to STARVE! The girl had no common sense; otherwise she would be all over him to do whatever he said!

But of course he already knew that, and if he was right it was that lack of common sense that probably was what was making her so late, keeping him from dinner.

"Loki-tama…" Ecchan said as he followed Loki out of the house into the night, soon followed by a very round and slow Fenrir.

"D… Dah… Daaaddy…" Fenrir panted out.

* * *

Mayura woke up with a major pain in her head that made her wince as she lifted it. The first thing she noticed was the ground was extremely rough with little rocks and obviously a lot of dirt, and not to mention damp. 

Something was wrong with her hands though, she couldn't really move them…

She opened her eyes and slowly tried to focus on what she was seeing. It was all blurry for her at first, but eventually she could make out a brick wall, and dim light shining on the dirt ground floor she was on.

With a groan she began to try to sit up, but at the difficulty of it she realized what was wrong with her hands. They seemed to be tied behind her back.

Repositioning herself so that her feet were soon in front she was able to sit up.

"You're…. you're awake?" A quavering voice asked. Mayura slowly turned to see a girl in a dirty school uniform next to her. Looked like she went to Tomoeda High which was nearby. She leaned against the wall on her side, knees up to her chest, hands also tied behind her, light brown hair falling over her face.

"Are you… Are you one of the missing girls?" Mayura asked, really wishing she could rest her head on something. It really hurt.

"I… I guess so. My name is Nezumi. Tategami Nezumi." The girl replied, looking at Mayura with big brown eyes. "Are you… are you here to get me out?"

"Yes!" Mayura sat up bright as ever, pain in her head forgotten. "I'm a detective! Well, actually more like a detective's assistant… but never fear, for I, Daidouji Mayura shall get us out of here!" Mayura would have stood up and posed if she could, but the hands tied behind her back seemed to be stopping her.

"But you're… you're in here with me. He got you too, didn't he? The man?"

"Janitor-san?" Mayura asked, not quite sure. Now that she thought about it, the last thing she remembered was being in the janitor's closet, finding the book bags, and then… then it getting black, and there was a hand around her mouth…

"Janitor-san?" Nezumi repeated, not quite sure of what she heard of.

"Yes… it was the Janitor who was kidnapping all the girls. I found their bags.. your bag, in the Janitor's closet."

The girl's expression lit up. "So they know to come after the janitor now? That he's the one who has us?!"

"Ahh…" Mayura didn't know how to tell the girl she wasn't able to let anyone know before she was captured. No one knew, not even Loki-san. She didn't know how long it had been, but it was possible that by now they were just noticing that she never came home from the prep-school. "They'll find us!" Mayura finally said to reassure the girl. "I know they will!"

Of course they would, Loki was a great detective!

* * *

It took Loki a good twenty minutes to walk over to the prep school which was now closed for the night, which made it about nine O'clock. Mayura was now about three hours late from returning home. Her prep course finished at 7. 

Loki ignored his stomach growls as he approached the prep school entrance. Not only was he starving, but having trouble sleeping the last couple of nights really took a toll on him too. Anyone seeing him at that moment would not think him the usual, beautiful Scandinavian boy he usually was perceived as, but a scary looking, bags under his eyes, hunched over blonde foreigner walking the streets at night, looking very much like a zombie.

Loki looked into the lobby. No one of course was here this late at night, the school didn't even have a security guard.

Loki then looked down at his son. "Fenrir… can you smell Mayura?'

Fenrir sniffed the ground with his superb nose for a while before responding "Mystery Girl went in a long time ago, but if she came out, it wasn't this way."

Loki looked around for any signs of a video camera, and saw none. "Ecchan… open the door."

"Right, Loki-tama!" Ecchan went in through the door, and popped out the other side. Seconds later the automatic doors flew open with a ding. Loki stepped in, and waited for his son to get Mayura's trail.

"This way Daddy…" Fenrir began to lead them into the building.

* * *

Mayura was struggling with the ropes that tied her hands together, trying not to think about the bucket to the side that was apparently supposed to be their bathroom. What inconsiderate kidnappers. 

"Was anyone here when you were brought here, Nezumi-chan?" The girl who looked relatively calm up to that point and suddenly looked very frightened. She hid her face into her knees.

"There was a girl here… for a very short time. Soon after they put me in here, the man came and took her away… I…"

Mayura wished she could put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder but she still hadn't managed to get free of the rope. "What is it Nezumi-chan?"

"I could hear her screaming." The girl responded, very low before breaking into tears. "She was screaming and screaming somewhere not too far off in this place, and then… and then she just… stopped!" She sobbed the last part out, tears now flowing freely across her dirty face.

She suddenly leaned towards Mayura. "Am I next now? Am I next now that they brought you? Is he going to kill me next?!"

"I…" So these weren't just kidnappings. The kidnapper was killing the girls too? Mayura focused away from the sobbing Nezumi. She could have been wrong. There were plenty of reasons for the girl to suddenly… stop screaming.

Mayura was beginning to get a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was so unfamiliar that she didn't know what to call it, but some would recognize it as the beginnings of despair.

* * *

Loki was following Fenrir down the hall, this time in the opposite direction from which they were originally going, away from the class. Well at least they knew now she had made it to her class, now the biggest question was where did she go next? 

Fenrir suddenly stopped halfway down the hallway, the other half they hadn't been in yet near the lobby entrance.

"Find something Fenrir?"

"The… the scent's gone Daddy? It's… all clean. It's been washed away."

Loki looked down the hall at the many doorways left they had, back the way they had just came, then back to the lobby. Mayura came in through the lobby, but didn't go out, so she obviously went this way. Perhaps they had a back door along this way…

Loki walked down the hall and soon at the end to the side he found an emergency exit. It didn't look like it was wired, so he pushed it open and found himself at the back alley with a dumpster, and nothing else. Fenrir and Ecchan soon joined him, and Fenrir began sniffing around.

"Anything?" He asked the dog.

He looked up and gave his father a sad look before shaking his head.

Loki went back into the building, his hunger and tiredness now long forgotten.

* * *

"Ha!" Mayura gave a short little cry and swung her now free hands out in front of her with the rope now hanging down from one of them. She did it! 

Nezumi looked at her in shock, and it was several moment while looking at the grinning Mayura who continued to display her hands out like an idiot before she asked "How'd you do that?"

"I told you. I'm a great detective! Well… I'm going to be! For now I'm the beautiful assistant to a great detective, so I'm a great detective in training." Nezumi gave her a blank look. "What kind of great detective in training would I be if I didn't know how to get loose of some common rope bonds?! It's a common skill all great detectives have!"

Nezumi continued to look at Mayura with an expression of disbelief at what she was hearing, while Mayura secretly thanked all the Houdini books and detective t.v. shows she watched as a kid that drilled it into her head that escaping from rope bindings was a must for any detective. Besides, it made her more Mysterious for when the bad guys tied her up and they couldn't figure out how she got loose.

"Heheh…" Mayura laughed, much pleased with herself as she heading over to free Nezumi.

* * *

Loki punched the concrete wall in frustration, and instantly regretted it. 

"Loki-tama?! Are you ok?"

He sighed as he slunk down, and sat on the floor, babying his now bruised fist. "Yes Ecchan, I'm fine." Fenrir suddenly appeared next to him, and set his head in Loki's lap. Lowly slowly stoked his head, wondering what to do now. They had no clue to go by, no suspects, to trail. Nothing at all. He just hoped that wherever she was, Mayura was alright.

He sat there for unsure of how long, thinking over everything they knew about the case so far, and then about Mayura. She must have found something. It wasn't likely the kidnapper would kidnap two girls so close together with the last three were weeks apart from each other.

He refused to let his mind wonder on the likely hood of a kidnapped victim surviving past a couple weeks. He didn't let Mayura know, but he doubted very much they were just kidnappings. There were no ransom notes, and the girls were never seen again. That made the odds of their still being alive extreme slim. The latest girl was more than likely still alive… but the others… and now Mayura being an unexpected addition to the mix made the kidnapper's actions even more unpredictable.

Slowly his attention was brought to his son licking something off the floor. "What are you eating, Fenrir?"

His son turned his head and gave him a guilty look, perhaps knowing he would disapprove. "Coffee… Daddy. It's…. been here for a while…"

Loki recalled passing the spill early and was about to let his disapproval of his son ingesting such food of the floor known to, when it hit him.

A smile came to Loki as he got up. How could he have not noticed it earlier? He must have been more sleep deprived than he thought to have missed it, but then again it probably wasn't anything. He really shouldn't get his hopes up…

"What is it Daddy? I… I won't eat it anymore if you don't want me too…"

"Don't eat anymore of that Fenrir, it could possibly make you sick. Never eat things off the floor like that…"

"Loki-tama?" Ecchan had noticed the smile.

"Wouldn't you say, Ecchan, that usually he Janitor is the last one to go home in a building such as this? They can't properly do their jobs when people are walking nonstop in the building, which is why they try to usually clean during the hours close to closing time. Less people to make a mess after they clean."

Fenrir watched his father now, assuming this was connected to the missing Mystery Girl.

"And if the Janitor's are the last ones to leave, they usually would make sure everything IS clean, including something as obvious as a coffee spill near the main lobby, that is unless they're a rather lazy janitor or…" He found the Janitor's closet they had passed earlier. "Or unless he was interrupted with something unexpected and couldn't properly finish his job tonight.

He tried to knob, and it was locked. "Ecchan?"

Seconds later it was unlocked, and Loki looked for the light switch. He was met with a small room, four feet by four, full of shelves and various cleaning materials.

"Daddy!" Fenrir wagged his tail as he sniffed at the ground. "Mystery Girl was in here!"

Loki looked around for anything else he could use. So Mayura had made It into the janitor's closet, what did she find…

He examined the shelves and had made it to the bottom self with the bucket's when the sight of leather caught his eye. Leaning over her found a stack of school bags, the top being Mayura's along with three other's, two of which were the names of the missing girls.

"Well, it looks like we should be giving the cleaning man a house call, don't you think?" Loki grinned.

Ecchan brought his attention to an object on the floor which he gently picked up. The spiral design of Mayura's mystery glasses stared back at him. He slipped them into his pocket. "A house call is most appropriate I would think. This man really needs to be told that he does a horrible job of cleaning." Loki smirked. "I'm still hungry too…"

* * *

Mayura was trying to ignore Nezumi's sobbing as she studied the pit. She had tried earlier to stop the girl's crying, but the girl continued on even after Mayura had untied her hands. Now the girl just seemed satisfied to curl up and hug herself in fetal position, crying non-stop, claiming they were going to die. 

Well Mayura wasn't about to just sit around crying, especially if what Nezumi had told about the girl before her was true.

Mayura rubbed her wrists that were still a bit sore as she looked around her. They would be sore for a while it seemed, the rope had been tied nice and tight, and had bit into her skin. She couldn't tell in this light if she had markings, but didn't really care. She needed to use her mind to find a way out of here, especially since she couldn't depend on anyone finding them.

She had just disappeared. No one knew where she was, especially not Loki-san. It had been a number of hours now, so by now he and Papa would probably be wondering where she disappeared to, but to go from the prep school to the Janitor's home? There had been very little clues up till now, and she wasn't going to just allow her fate to rest on the possibility of they MIGHT get a possibly non-existent clue that was left.

The pit on further examination looked to be about fifteen feet high and looked to be an old well. Thankfully the water either dried out a long time ago, or it had been filled up a ways to the point where the water didn't reach. The floor was dirt, while everything else around them was stone. And way above them was the concrete look of a ceiling with a light bulb.

On the stone walls however that went up a good six feet was a sight that made Mayura's blood stop cold however. Dark brown thin streaks layered over each other, and when Mayura got closer to looking at them, she could see a fragment of a fingernail stuck in the stone covered with the dried, dark brown blood.

It was at that moment Mayura knew she was in serious trouble. There had been a number of people in there before them, people who were so desperate to get out that they tried clawing their way out. And no one had ever found them, or their bodies later on.

The kidnapper kidnapped girls, kept them in this pit, and then did something to them after he was done keeping them in the pit that involved a lot of screaming, and Mayura for once didn't want to think of the possibilities with her imaginative thoughts.

Mayura backed away from the walls, unable to pull her eyes off them as the panic started to take over. She was probably going to die here. Her lip started to tremble but she stopped as the sound of Nezumi reached her again. She couldn't resort to the state Nezumi was in. If she did, she might as well be giving up completely, and what kind of detective would that make her? She had to at least ATTEMPT to get out of there.

The walls were high enough that a single person had no chance, but on occasion there weren't really more than two people in the pit at one time. Perhaps if they worked together…

Mayura Looked over to Nezumi, crying, the girl looked to be somewhat of a good height. Definitely taller than her. Perhaps….

* * *

Loki entered the dark shadows of the house and wondered what to expect. It hadn't taken him long to pull up the employee file of one Watanabe Sano, the only janitor in their hire, and get his address. Lucky for Loki he lived no more than a handful of blocks from the building, and even more convenient, he left his door unlocked, not that it would of stopped him if it wasn't. 

There weren't any light on in the building from what he could see outside, and inside it was all darkness. Every once in a while there was a window with thick curtains drawn, leaving some light from the moon, but other than that there was no light, leaving one to think no one was home.

Loki already had Latetiven out, with Fenrir not too far behind and Ecchan hovering over his shoulder.

"Daddy…" Fenrir whispered, nose to the ground. "I can smell Mystery Girl."

"Lead us to her then Fenrir."

They were passing a kitchen when Loki was met with the familiar scent of blood. In the darkness he could make out dark stains in the counter, with an amount in the sink. But blood in a kitchen… it could just be animal…

The hackles on fenrir's neck were raised as he gave a low growl. "It's human bloody, Daddy."

Loki's heart skipped a beat at a thought before his son answered the question on his mind.

"No, not Mystery Girl. Her scent trail leads past this."

But still… the kitchen full with the scent of human blood…

Loki pulled at the fridge, and coldy looked at the sight before him, loosing what little appetite he may have had. In all his centuries, he has seen such sights before, but still, seeing the Tupperware containers of red meat, and in the bright lights of a modern day fridge just seemed to add to it the disgust. He guessed it was a bit too much to expect all humans to relinquish the act over so many centuries, but they could of at least felt some shame in putting the eyeballs in a jar that would creep mostly anybody out as they seemed to gaze at you.

Cannibalism seemed to exist in the modern age.

Loki shut the door without a sound, and faced his son. "Lead on, Fenrir."

* * *

Mayura clung to the walls as she pulled herself up on Nezumi's shoulders. 

"Just a bit higher, Nezumi-chan…" Mayura urged as Nezumi tried to stand up taller. The ledge was still far above Mayura's reach.

"I can't.. get any higher…" The girl grunted.

Mayura looked up and measured the distance. The ledge was still a good foot above her reach, but maybe…

"Nezumi…. I'm going to try jumping, okay? Move out of the way as fast as you can once I jump so you don't get hurt if I fall."

"-kay."

Mayura forced herself forward, off the girls shoulders, and by some miracle just barely grabbed the ledge with one hand, banging against the wall. Quickly before she lost her hold, she grabbed onto the ledge with her other hand, but found she was having problems pulling herself up.

Suddenly from below someone began pushing her feet upward.

"Nezumi…"

"Can you do it Mayura?"

With the extra boost Mayura was able to pull herself out of the pit, and found herself in what looked to be a basement. There were a pair of wooden stairs that led up to a door, and little else on what looked to be a dirt floor. Maybe they weren't in a basement, but instead some sort of cellar.

"Mayura?!" Cried Nezumi. "Mayura… please don't leave me!"

"It's ok Nezumi, I'm still here." She looked down the ledge to reassure the girl and smiled. Far off in a dark corner she thought she saw a ladder. "There's a la-"

Makyura froze at a sound that made her blood stand cold. The crack of the door swinging open grew louder and she looked up to see the silhouette of a man in the doorway.

* * *

Loki was walking through the house that turned out to be a rather good sized house for a single story, more so than it looked from the outside. He had already passed two bedrooms, both which were empty. One looked to be a childrens' room, with toys and furniture covered in dust, the other a simple room with a futon that did look to be used recently. 

"Dorei?" A voice called from down the darkened hallway. Loki followed it to the entrance to the next room with Fenrir not too far behind. "Oh doooooooooreeeeei, where are you?" There was something very feminine about the voice…

Loki took a step in the room, and found himself in a lavishly decorated chamber. Silks and dark satins hung everywhere with heavy curtains surrounding the open window. The moonlight filtered into the center of a room where a pavilion of sorts was set up full of various cushions, and more silk was hung up around it as a sort of net around it. In the center of it all, sprawled out comfortably and dressed in a simple hanging dress was a woman who watched him with almost glowing eyes.

"…. You're not my dorei." She stated.

Loki stepped forward, pulling back the curtains…

"Daddy…. She's a-

"A dark elf." Loki stated, looking down at the woman with skin almost as dark as ebony, and long flowing hair as light as silver.

The woman smiled up at him, clearly not alarmed. "My, you're the first of Midgard to correctly guess what I am. Who are you?"

Loki coolly watched the woman. She shouldn't be there. "How are you here. The gates to Midgard have been sealed off, only the Aes-"

"Are you one of the Aesir then?" She stood up and studied Loki, stepping out of the netted bedding area. "You're a really pretty one if you are." She tilted her head as she studied him from the moonlight. "Hmm… tall, golden hair… defiantly the most handsome one I've ever seen. Perhaps we can play some, Aesir on Midgard. You could be spared by my kind from the coming massacre if you served me.."

"How are you here?" He repeated, concerned now with only two things now.

"I suppose you'd want to know that, but am surprised your kind hasn't figured it out yet. With the Allfather dead, the barriers have weakened. My kind is already working its way into Midgard, and eventually, on to Asgard we'll go."

She was circling him like a hawk now. "So which one are you?"

Loki narrowed his eyes as she got closer. A dark elf would explain the missing girls in the area. The female elves in particular believed the more they fed off human girl flesh, the younger and more attractive they became. But that aside, a dark elf in Midgard was a grave problem. If there was one, there could be others like this one suggested, which meant they found a way to escape from Svartalfheim.

"Come now, don't be shy." She smiled a rather wicked smile. "I know you're not Baulder… he's dead."

A sad smile came to Loki's lips at that. He thought he was done with all this, but it seemed he was mistaken. Loki glanced out at the moon, it was far from dawn. He guessed he'd have to do this the hard way, without sunlight to aid him.

"Fenrir." He called his son forward, and closed his eyes as he lifted Levathine, and silently went through the spell he needed to break the seal, lips moving but saying nothing. He then brought down the staff with a hard slam on the floor that made the woman jump.

"Fenrir…?" the woman repeated a note of realization in her voice as she backed away from the puppy that was slowly getting larger and more vicious looking. "Then you're…"

"Loki." He confirmed for. "Father of the Wolf who was destined to eat the Allfather… Hold her down Fenrir."

With a snarl the wolf jumped forward in a black streak.

* * *

"Let me go!" Mayura yelled, kicking at the man as he continued to tie her hands in front of her. 

"Quiet. You're in enough trouble as it is, escaping from there. If you were smart and wanting to live longer you would of stayed in there and kept meek."

The man was pulling hard on the rope around her wrists, so tight that with another tug Mayura cried out.

"Don't worry little one, it won't hurt much longer. We WERE going to keep you down there for a number of days till we were done with the other girl, but now you're proving more trouble than you're worth. Luckily however, you're pretty enough for the mistress, and she can do without fresh meat for a couple of weeks. We'll just keep you in a fresh Tupperware container, eh?"

Mayura's eyes grew wide. "W… what?!" She was confused by what the man just said, but she got the meat part of it, and then putting her in a Tupperware. Were they going to eat her?

"Mayura! Mayura!" Nezumi called from down in the pit, unable to see what was going on, but hearing bits and pieces. He already knew she was no longer tied up, but seemed unconcerned with it. From the scratches on the walls, some of the other girls had broken their bonds to no avail.

"You hush down there before you make me come down there and gag you! SHE is already fed up enough with your crying."

"Don't give up Nezumi! No matter what, don't give up!" Mayura called down to her as the man began to drag Mayura to the stairs.

Mayura's head suddenly was smacked to the side with a painful force that left her seeing black, then slowly little shots of light.

"You didn't have to do that." She saw the man as he shook the hand he just backhanded her with through eyes now welling up. It had hurt, badly. She had never been hit like that in all her life.

Above them somewhere there was a suddenly scream, followed by a loud growling that sounded to of come from some sort of dog. The man leading her up the stairs paused for a second, looked back at her, then back above him. Suddenly Mayura was falling back to the floor at the man ran up the stairs, slammed the door behind him, which was followed by a loud, defining click of the lock.

Mayura didn't know what was going on upstairs, but she did know she was getting very scared of the situation, and ran up the stairs to try the door anyway. Locked.

She didn't know what she could do now. There was nothing to break the door down with.

From the pit she could hear the all too familiar sobs of Nezumi, and she didn't know what to do.

* * *

Loki lifted a tired hand to stoke Fenrir, now next to him in the form of a large wolf, and watched as the dark elf burned. Luckily the fire seemed to work instantly on her, and he didn't have to sit through the screams anymore. 

He slunk down to the ground, and rested against Fenrir. He was exhausted now. Breaking Fenrir's seal, and calling upon enough fire to kill the elf had taken much out of him. He wasn't as strong in magic as he once was, and that brought a small, amused smile to his lips. This would have been nothing if he had been at his previous strength.

"Mistress!" The janitor cried, running into the room, who stopped in his tracks at seeing Fenrir. Fenrir growled, but Loki gave him a pat keeping him back.

"Your mistress is dead."

"… YOU…"

"Yes, I did it." Loki slowly got up and faced the man. "Humans should know better than to give themselves over to dark creatures. Serving them takes what makes you human right out of you."

"You didn't have to kill her!"

"I did. Where's the girl you took tonight?" Fenrir growled next to him.

The man was breaking into tears before the now dying flames, broken. The dark elf's form was decomposed to just a pile of ashes now.

He wasn't going anywhere, but it also seemed like he wasn't going to be talking anymore either. Loki told Fenrir to stay and watch him just to be sure, before heading out the room to finish his search. Eccchan followed Loki out.

* * *

Mayura had managed to get free of the rope again, and had gotten the ladder down to Nezumi who was now climbing out when the door opened again. Both her and Nezumi looked fearfully back at the door. 

"Mayura?"

"… Loki-san?" Mayura asked, not quite believing what she was hearing.

He came down the stairs and looked around at the situation, a very unpleasant look on his face when he looked down into the pit. He face softened however when he looked at her, and slowly he lifted a hand to the bruise she had no doubt was now forming on her face.

"Loki-" She cried, no longer able to hold back the tears that had been building up. She ran forward, and clung to him, not caring she was getting his shirt wet, or even that he might not like it. Soon she felt his arms wrap around her, comforting her. All fear and stress she had was gone now. It was going to be okay. Everything was always okay when Loki was with her. It was always ok ay when she was with him.

"You're an idiot." Loki commented as he squeezed her tighter. "You know that, right?"

* * *

Niiyama looked over the scene in front of him. Daidouji's daughter, a girl he hadn't even known was missing, was safely sitting next to the foreign young man he was told was the person who had found the girls. Mayura was animatedly telling one of the officers what happened, while the young man was focused on the small black dog in his lap. 

Niiyama assumed this was the foreigner Misao had told him so much about, hiring out his daughter as an assistant. Was she investigating the case when she was kidnapped, or was she just going to classes at the prep school? Either way, he was a bit disappointed the blonde foreigner before him had solved the case and not him. Not that he should feel jealousy, he was actually relieved the perpetrator was found. After seeing the house, they realized the case was worse than they just imagined not just some odd kidnapping case which was originally thought to be a runaway case. He wasn't looking forward to getting the remains in the kitchen identified, but it looked like only one, Nezumi, of the three missing girls was alive, not counting Mayura Daidouji. With a heavy sigh, he went back to work. Two girls were alive out of four.

"Yasu!"

His young assistant ran up to him, notebook in hand.

"Find anything else?"

"So far only that he kept the girls a deep hole in the basement…. It's not a pretty sight down there… and there's the ashes of something in a bed room. Not sure what happened in the room yet, none of the girls know about it, but it seemed someone was staying in there."

"Go ahead and dust the place."

The foreigner was watching him, and when he noticed Niiyama looking at him, he gave him a smile back. There was something familiar about him…. But what he couldn't tell. Maybe it'd come back to him later. For now, he wondered if Misao would be changing his opinion of his unwelcomed guest.

* * *

Mayura vigourusly scrubbed her hair more, all to eager to get the filth of the pit out of her hair. It was almost hard for her to believe what she just went through. A real case, and not just any case, but a serial killer case, one where she almost became a victim. 

She slowly sank into the bubbles, deep in thought. If it weren't for Loki-san, she might have been dead by now. All because she didn't listen to him about suspicious people. But then again, all she was doing was looking at the janitor's closet when she was passing by and caught sight of the bag. She wasn't going to drag Loki there without knowing for sure what it was. Surely that couldn't be held against her?

_Loki…._

Her thoughts went back to the memory of his arms around her, comforting her. His arms had felt so good, so safe.

She grinned as she rinsed her hair out again. He had found her, on what she wasn't sure of yet, but she was sure it was due to his great detective skills. Serial killers and mystery monsters beware, Loki-san would come sleuth them out with the help of his beautiful assistant!

* * *

_Sorry this was a couple days late. Family stuff. Anyway, there we have another major part of the plot revealed. Sorry it took like… 8 chapters to get to it. heh, I take a while to get going. I'll also admit I've taken some liberties with the dark elves. The only descriptions I could find of them were nasty ogre things, and well… I think I'm liable to take some artistic license with this fanfiction since Kinoshita-sama wasn't exactly accurate to the T with Matantei Loki. Think of the Dark Elves in this like the Drow of D+D (and there Mischa shows some of her geeky roots) Pretty things with dark skin and silvery hair, and… EVIL. _


End file.
